


Infinity

by Forever_Hopeless



Series: Infinity Saga [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Supernatural, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare, Vampire Academy Series - Richelle Mead
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Multi, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Supernatural Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2019-10-15 05:21:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 15
Words: 40,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17522660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Forever_Hopeless/pseuds/Forever_Hopeless
Summary: Unless specifically stated otherwise, all chapters are in the present time of the story.





	1. Cast

Kaya Scoldelario as Kirstin Mackenzie Winchester

Austin Butler as Ryder Herondale

Katherine Mcnamara as Jordan Herondale

Diana Agron as Ava-Mary "Avery" Winchester

Katherine Langford as Sabrina Hart

Noah Centineo as Mason Belikov

Jamie Campbell Bower as Jace Herondale

 

 

Lily Collins as Clary Herondale

 

Emma Dumont as Lorna Dane

Katia Winter as Jean Grey

 

Kevin Quinn as David Haller

 

Evan Peters as Pietro Maximoff 

 

 

Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff

 

Michael Fassbender as Erik Lehnsherr

James McAvoy as Charles Xavier

Shadowhunters Cast, Supernatural Cast, Girl Meets World Cast, Vampire Academy Cast, The Gifted Cast, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe Cast as Their Respective Characters.

 


	2. 0

_ July 23, 2001 _

 

_ The X-mansion was bustling with excitement, the Xavier-Lehnsherr family in the center of it. Lorna Lehnsherr was shaping and tearing apart a ball of metal, the green glow around her hands catching her younger brother's attention. The three-year-old lets out a shriek of delight attempting to grab the intangible color. _

 

_ Jean Xavier laughs from next to her sister, pulling their youngest brother into her lap. “Are you excited to meet your new sister, David?” The younger telepath begins chanting the word mentally. Sister! Sister! Sister! This earns a snort from down the hallway they were sitting in. _

 

_ “You do know he is eventually going to have to learn to talk, right?” Marcos asks as he slides down the opposite hall wall, joining them on the floor. He was the newest person to join the X-Men and had become quick buddies with the green-haired girl. _

 

_ “He knows how to talk.” The seven-year-old boy walking with him states, talking quickly. “He can’t talk as better as the rest of us, but he can talk.” _

 

_ “As well.” All three sisters correct at the same time, his twin moving to sit in between her eldest sisters playing with the toddler. _

 

_ “Whatever.” The silver-haired boy responds flatly. _

 

_ Lorna smiles at him dropping the piece of metal into her palm, using the other hand to ruffle his hair. “When telepaths are born with their abilities, their speech development is slightly delayed. Why say stuff when they can ask for what they want in your head? Jeanie over here didn't start talking properly until she was four. Dads and I knew better these last two times; when they get to be David's age, you don't respond until they speak verbally. The only reason he's getting away with it now is the excitement.”  _

 

_ Marcos laughed again, “Okay, so I'm not the only one who noticed it. Why is everyone so excited about this baby? Wasn't David just born a few years ago?” _

 

_ Jean smiles at the man, running her fingers through Wanda's brownish-red hair. “They always get like this. It starts with bets about normal things like gender.” _

 

_ “And how many there are.” Lorna tags on, manipulating the ball of metal again. _

 

_ “Then it goes deeper. Usually, it's something like who they're  going to look like, or what power they're going to have.” The red-head continues. _

 

_ “They could take after one parent or the other like David only seems to have telepathy at the moment, though more can manifest later on, and I have metallokinesis. Jean takes after Charles, mostly, but has telekinesis, which can still count as taking after both of them. And then we have Wanda, who took after both of them completely. Telepathy and metallokinesis.” _

 

_ Pietro bounces twice, before plopping to the ground next to Marcos, “Or they can end up like me.” _

 

_ Marcos chuckles, throwing his arm over the twitchy boy's shoulder, “I don’t think the world could handle another one of you, Pietro.” _

 

_ # _

 

_ Kayla softly quiets the baby girl in her arms, running her finger down the pale cheek. “Come on, Sweetheart. We're going to your new home. You're going to love it there.” She continues down the path to the main road. _

 

_ She reaches the end of the road when she hears the shouting. “Ms. Kayla! Ms. Kayla!” Pietro is by her side in a blink, his sister next to him, looking slightly dazed. “What are you doing with Cassie?” _

 

_ “I was taking her for a walk, Pietro, and I was just about to head back to the mansion.” The older woman explains, keeping the baby tucked close to her chest. _

 

_ “But the mansion is the other way,” Pietro states confused. Turning to look at his home, he doesn't notice the car that pulled up in front of the woman holding his baby sister. Two men climb out of the car and, at the woman's nod, grab the twins from behind. “Hey!” _

 

_ “Put us down.” Wanda shrieks, using her telepathy to stop one of them. This earns her the butt of one man's gun to the back of her head. Her unconscious body is caught before it hits the ground, and the twins are loaded into the car before Kayla carefully climbs in carefully, the fussy baby sending telepathic messages of  _ scared _ to her captors. _

 

_ “Shh, it's alright baby. Mama's got you. It's all right.” She sends a glare to the driver. “What are you waiting for. Let's go. Before the telepath wakes up.” _

 

_ # _

 

_ “So this is her? The angelic mutant?” Grant Ward questions, moving to look down at the child in the woman's arms.  _

 

_ “No.” Kayla deadpans, “I brought a random mutant child back. Yes, I got the child. The daughter of the most powerful telepath in the world, Magneto, and the archangel Michael. She's going to be powerful, I can feel it.” She moves the blanket away from the child's face revealing the inquisitive bright purple eyes. _

 

_ Ward lets out a breathy laugh, examining the thin patch of purple hair, “Holy shit. We stole Magneto's kid.” _

 

_ “Kids, actually. We got his twins too. Von Strucker wants them. He's placing them in a Hydra family after our Cuckoos fix their memories. Thinks they could be useful in the future.” _

 

_ Instead of a verbal response, Ward grabs the woman by the hair, kissing her harshly for a moment. When he pulls away, they head to talk to the boss. _

 

December 2008

 

_ Aria Smith walks slowly towards the 0-8-4, examining it closely. She picks around the wreckage of cars it demolished without moving and guns it sent flying out of the owner's hands.  _ She, _ Agent Smith scolds herself internally,  _ she is a living, breathing… mutant? Something else? It doesn't matter.

 

_ She stares into the surprised purple eyes, “You're… the first person to do that.” The child croaks out quietly. _

 

_ “Come up here without weapons? Don't need one, I am one.”  The Agent attempts at a joke, though it seems to go over the girl's head. The girl’s head was covered in bright purple hair. _

 

_ “I am too.” At the questioning noise from the blonde woman, the young girl continues, “That's what they wanted me to be, I read it from them. Their weapon. I guess I am, though. Look at what I did. I didn't mean to… I'm just scared. And when I'm scared… bad things happen.” Aria laughs, glancing at the chaotic scene around them. _

 

_ “Yeah, I noticed.” She sits next to the girl, “So you have telepathy and telekinesis?” The younger girl nods, “Wanna see what I can do?” Another nod. _

 

_ Aria smiles, pointing her hand towards the door of an empty car. She concentrates for a moment, letting the blast of red light create a smiley face on the door. “Woah.”  _

 

_ She smiles down at her, dimming slightly as she remembers what she's doing here. “What's your name?”  _

 

_ “0-8-4, I guess. It's what everyone has been referring to me as, so I guess that's my name.” The girl shrugs, shivering in the cold air. _

 

_ The Agent pulls her jacket off, standing up and pulling it around the girl's shoulders. Helping her stand up, she pulls her close, noticing that everybody had their guns tucked away. Probably per Phil's request. “That's not a very good name. Where are your parents?” _

 

_ “I don't… I don't think I have any.” The sad purple eyes stare up at her, “Does that mean I go back in the cell?”  _

 

_ “No,” Aria snaps, outraged at the idea. She quickly calms down when she notices the girl flinch, “god no. You're…” The girl’s still cowering slightly, so Aria takes it upon herself to lightly run her hand over her purple hair, “This is your natural hair?” She nods slowly. “Cool. Do you see the blue in mine? That’s natural too. Not sure who it came from though, never met my parents either. We’re the same, you see. And I’m not in a cell. And you…You're going to come home with me. How old are you?”  _

 

_ “Umm… Seven, I think. I know my birthday. I read it off of one of the people who kept me in the cell. July 23. Is that helpful?” The nameless girl plays with the woman’s hair as she squats to face her, playing with the blue streaks blended with the blonde of her hair. The hopeful look on her face made the Agent smile warmly. _

 

_ “Yeah. Yes, it is. We have almost everything we need. Now we just need a name. And I think I have the perfect one… You ready for it?” She nods eagerly, her purple hair swishing slightly. “How about Kirstin Mackenzie? And of course, you'll take my last name. Or, well, my married name. Winchester. Sound good?” _

 

_ “Very.” Kirstin smiles brightly at the blonde, letting her set her in the back off one of the many cars. _


	3. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unless specifically stated otherwise, all chapters are in the present time of the story.

 

**** August 1, 2016

 

_ The child screams as gunfire goes off outside the room, the shaking objects in the room flying around the room. Small ones lodge into the people’s bodies, large objects crushing and killing others. A table from across the room begins to shake as the girls agonized cries grew louder, as she grew scared. _

 

_ A man runs up to her, a knife in his hand. He was screaming out profanities, threats growing more violent, and serious with every passing second. Finally, he moves to stab the child in the throat. In a blink, and another screamed sob, a scalpel plunges directly through the man's skull. Wide terrified eyes stared back at her. _

 

_ She felt each and every mind blinks out as the battle outside continued, and as her powers ran amuck due to her terror. She felt the pain as the table crushed three men into the wall, as the dead body above her head dripped blood onto her forehead. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. _

 

Kirstin gasps awake, purple eyes fluttering open to stare at the water dripping from the ceiling. She quickly sits up, glaring at the blonde girl in the bed across from her. Or, well, the empty bed across from her. The person previously occupying the bed seemed to have just gotten out of the shower, and was staring at the wall across the room.

 

Following the blonde girl’s gaze, she finds that the lamp that was previously on the desk was now one with the wall and that the chair was next to the door on its side. In fact, after a quick assessment of her surroundings, she noticed that nearly everything in the room was tossed around. “You're eventually going to have to tell Sam and Dean.”

 

The black-haired girl’s head snaps up at that, “What?”

 

Her adopted sister laughs, poking the lamp lightly, “You're going to have to tell them about this new ability. It's getting stronger and you still haven't gotten a hold on it. Not to mention that everything else is getting stronger too. I thought it stops at puberty?” 

 

Letting out a relieved sigh, the dark-haired girl sinks back to her motel bed, wiping off the cold-sweat from her nightmare. “Umm… as far as studies on the X-gene show, mutations can manifest from birth, puberty, or immense stress. It never really states when they stop developing, but I assume it's when your body stops developing. I mean mutants were only given recognizable rights a decade ago and finding viable research is few and far between.” Stepping out of the sweat-soaked bed, she pulls her thin tank-top over her head. “You think I have time for a shower before our drive to NYC, yay or nay?” The older girl checks the time on her phone, then proceeds to lean over and slightly sniff the air next to her.

 

“Well, you packed up last night, and we have twenty minutes before we have to head out. I can maybe get Sam to push it to thirty, but not any later.” Kirstin leans over and kisses her cheek.

 

“Ava-Mary Winchester, you are a lifesaver.” Kirstin grabs an outfit from her bag, maneuvering around Avery, who's straightening her hair. Quickly starting the shower, she strips and gets in.

 

“Can't you just, like, I don't know… talk to a scientist about it? There's that one guy, right? Dr. Chandler X-something?” The blonde Winchester questions, talking louder to be heard over the almost non-exist sound of the water raining down.  _ No water pressure, lovely.  _ _ What do you expect? A spa?  _ _ Shut your mental mouth.  _ _ Huh? _ _ Nevermind, wrong person.  _ _ Okay? _

 

“I think you mean Dr. Charles Xavier. He and Dr. McCoy are the leading scientists in the X-gene and mutants, but I doubt they could explain why people with powers like yours just manifest complete and max power and why people like me have powers that grow with time.” She quickly rinses out her hair whilst her sister talks.

 

“I mean, no, probably not. But that would be enough reason for them to try, wouldn't it?” Avery responds, pausing mid-sentence to put on some lip gloss.

 

Kirstin watches as the black-tinted water goes down the motel drain with a sigh. “I mean, technically, yeah. That probably would give them a good reason to search for an answer, but asking them would mean they would want blood samples and, if you haven't noticed, angelic DNA kinda fucks up what your sequencing looks like. I prefer not to be a lab rat. Oh, when we stop in the next bigger town, remind me to get more hair dye.” She moves to the next section of the shower, barely hearing the sigh from the blonde.

 

“Again? You just dyed your hair two weeks ago, Kirstin.” It came out as a complaint, though both of them knew it was actually out of concern. 

 

“Must've been semi-permanent, I guess. Permanent usually lasts a month, maybe a month and a half, but that's pushing it.” Avery rolls her eyes playfully, knowing that though she can't see it, she can see the mental image of it shoved her way.

 

“Why is your hair such a bitch to take care of?” 

 

“Its ‘cause of the cell regeneration… like how my body rejects foreign chemicals, so does my hair. It washes out like I ran that hair chalk through it, sometimes.” She sticks her hand out of the shower, the other glowing purple. The shower flicks off with a simple flick of her wrist. “Towel.”

 

Avery tosses the last clean towel to her hand and waits a moment for her to step out of the shower before continuing the original conversation. “So can’t you just snap the cuff on and call it a good day? Get the blood drawn so it looks normal… well, normal as mutant blood can be?”

 

Pulling on her undergarments, she turns to give the eighteen-year-old a flat look, “Just because it suppresses the powers, doesn't mean it changes how the DNA looks, Ava.” She lets out a hiss at the name, sending a slight blast in the fifteen-year old's direction.

 

“Its Avery, Ass Munch.” Kirstin snorts, pulling Dean's old Ac/Dc shirt over her head. “Anyway, they're mutants, right? They are mutants who study others’ mutations. Seeing something like that shouldn't shock them too much.” 

 

“Do you have a hair tie that I can use? I need to add that to my ever-growing shopping list, right under  _ food for the goddamned Bunker _ but probably above  _ hair dye for the purple rat’s nest I call hair, _ ya’ know.” When grabbing the hairbrush and hair ties from Avery, there’s a knock on the door, meaning the boys arrived with food. She double-checks to make sure her fly is zipped before nodding to Avery about letting them in.

 

Whilst the others get set up to dine and dash, in a non-illegal way, she examines her features in the mirror. Her too-long hair, and too skinny face (because, though she eats constantly, she looks just this side of healthy body weight. Many people believed she had an eating disorder, despite her protests otherwise, because apparently, that's the only way someone can be “ _ that _ skinny.” That, or drugs.) with the slight freckle patch over her high cheekbones. Her too pale skin compared to the deep (yet often described as “bright”) purple hair, which makes the blue specks in the purple eyes stand out more. Everything about her seems off-kilter, even her brain half-the-time.

 

She always seemed to be floating away, lost in the jumble of minds around her, even without actually touching their thoughts. She found the echo of every person near her fascinating; how without having to invade their privacy, she can tell she's not alone from the simple  _ feeling _ the brain functioning in another person.

 

Pulling her hair, that falls to about mid-back, into two braids that run down the front of her shirt, she wipes the slight water residue on her old, ratty jeans. They were torn up, and not in the “I'm trying to be fashionable” way, but in the “these are my favorite jeans and I'm about ready to walk right out of them” way. “You're doing it again.”

 

Kirstin jumps smacking one arm against the sink, and the other against Cas’ chest, lightly. She evens out her breathing for a second before sighing and picking up the brush she dropped. “Doing what?”

 

“Floating, I think Dean called it. When your thoughts wander?” She lets out another sigh, examining Cas for a moment. He was wearing his signature trench coat, but one of Dean's undershirts was underneath it, making him seem more relaxed and making his blue eyes stand out even more. And  _ that _ , of course, accentuates the mess he calls hair.

 

“No. That's just being a space cadet. Floating is a word the Winchesters reserve for when I get lost in the feel of other minds around me. It's like… an out of body experience, because even though I'm physically there, I'm mentally elsewhere. It would take a lot more than talking to me to break me out of one of those episodes.” Cas seemed upset about her response, so she tries to give it a better response, “But, hey, the fact that you asked is a great step forward.”

 

Ever since Castiel first arrived, he often went out of his way to avoid Kirstin, especially in the beginning. He knew that her heritage was partially angelic long before she did and, at first, ignoring her was essential to the mission. Then it was guilt that he still hadn't told her. After that it became partially Kirstin's fault that he avoided her; she took her anger of the discovery out on him, blaming him for what Michael had done, (which made no sense, but felt better than not being able to focus the energy on anyone alive and easy to yell at) then the anger fell away. At that point, he tried to gather as much information as he could on the adopted Winchester so he could try and make up for lost time.

 

Of course, things got less strained after a while, but a little awkwardness edged in when Cas and Dean began dating. She'd only ever seen Dean be affectionate in  _ that way  _ with her adoptive mother, and she was having trouble adjusting to the idea that Dean was dating again. She quickly got over it when she saw the love in their eyes (and maybe their heads too, but that was no one's business but her own) and went back to working on their weird, bordering stepparent/stepchild relationship.

 

“You're doing it again.” He states something that sounded like amusement in his voice.

 

Kirstin chuckles tucking all the makeup her sister left out into her little makeup bag, adding the brush last minute. “Yep. Yes, I was. Not floating but-” She cuts herself off as Cas chuckles slightly. Muttering a soft profanity in his direction, she turns, makeup and dirty laundry in hand, and marches out of the bathroom, accidentally tapping shoulders with the angel.

 

Dropping the makeup on Avery's lap, the youngest Winchester moves to tuck the dirty clothes into the plastic trash bag inside her duffel. She then turns to the others, dropping to sit on the bed when Dean plops a styrofoam takeout container in her hands. Opening it quickly, she takes three large bites of the clearly homemade biscuits and gravy, when the easy-going argument at the table ensues. They were trying to decide the best route to NYC by the end of August, so Avery can start college courses and Kirstin can work with Jack, with help from Tony and the others.

 

The dynamic in the family seemed to be in a nearly constant state of fluctuation, as of this past year. Jack, the newest offspring in the group, (though he looked maybe the same age as Avery) was definitely a part of that. While he was shy and timid in the beginning, and still is depending on the situation, he was beginning to realize that that won't get him anywhere in this family, so he's begun to learn when to speak up and hold his ground. Also, in the past year, he went to the Compound with Avery and I and has begun being brought up to date on everything he needs to know to pass off as a normal person. Plus, they've been going through twelve years of schooling in as little time as possible.

 

Honestly, Kirstin thought he made the dynamic better somehow.  Though there was still a lot more testosterone than estrogen in the family dynamic, it also almost balanced out the playing field between the adults and children. Also, Jack was a great buffer for the others’ antics. 

 

Avery, despite looking the definition of perfection to anyone with an interest in women, with her shoulder-length wavy blonde hair (with a few blue streaks like her mother), full cheeks, and piercing green-eyed, was definitely a bit eccentric at times. She always dresses to impress and can run in heels (which Kirstin could never do)  _ and  _ Hunt in heels.

 

Dean, while to other people is a cold-hearted badass, has a soft spot for his family, especially Avery- though, he tries not to show it. Kirstin wouldn't consider it favoritism, because she's the only biological child created by him and his late wife, so it's a little understandable that he would kick into overdrive over any little thing, especially with the life they live. He was a goofball at times, and a hard-ass at others, but that's kinda how parents work… at least she thinks it is.

 

Sam, on the other hand, is the one that lets us get away with things. Of course, he is, he's the uncle, not the Dad. He also was one of the people to teach Kirstin how to hack, and boy isn't that a great skill to have. He was definitely the one to handle situations like Avery's first breakup (because Kirstin's never had a significant other, or even tried for one) or when Avery was scared the boys wouldn't come back from a hunt.

 

Kirstin often felt like she stuck out like a sore thumb, despite the constant feeling of love and warmth that came from simple moments like these. She looked nothing like them, and though they raised her, they weren't her blood. They were her family, but they couldn't tell her about how to control her abilities like she hoped her biological parents would. Sometimes, after she comes back from floating away, she can hear the same train of thought in their minds.  _ She's not like them _ .

 

“-hat do you think Kirst?” Jack questions, snapping his cousin back to attention.

 

“Hmm?” she vocalizes, taking another bite of her half-gone meal.

 

“He asked if it would be a good idea to stop by Sioux Falls for a few days, spend some time with Jody, Alex, and Claire.”

 

“Yes, please, I so got to rub the fact that she's evolved to Biker Barbie from the ‘I hate everyone’ stage in her face. I wonder if Alex has done it yet.” That earns a breathy laugh out of the boys and an almost spit take from Avery.

 

“Okay then. Finish eating. We leave in five.” Dean declares, taking a long drink of coffee.

 

“We need to get a minivan,” Avery mutters into her own cup.

 

“Over my dead body.” Her father shoots back.

 

“Haven't you died, like, twenty times already?” His other daughter responds. He angrily whispers something about ‘teaming up on him’ into his drink.


	4. 2

Avery stomps angrily down Jody's front steps, pausing only a moment when she finds Kirstin and Dean teaching Jack and Claire how to tune up Baby. Her warpath is quickly reinitiated as the pills rattle from a slight twitch in her hand. Continuing on her way, she hooks arms with Jody. “Do you think you could take over for Kirstin for a moment please?”

 

“Umm, I don't really think-” The older woman stops talking when she notices the look on the blonde's face. “Yeah, I guess I can.” She maneuvers around the young mutant, nodding over to Avery when Kirstin lets out an annoyed noise.

 

“Yes, Ms. Winchester,” Kirstin asks in a posh British accent, tucking her hands in her pockets. Avery throws the unmarked bottle at her face, feeling a sense of satisfaction when one hand comes flying out of her pocket, purple light appearing as the bottle stops mid-air. Snatching it out of the sky, Kirstin tucks them in her hoodie.

 

“I thought we agreed that you would get rid of those?” The blonde yells,  earning a few looks from Claire and Alex. Alex slowly gets closer, in case she needs to break something up.

 

Kirstin glances back at Dean, who glances up towards them when his daughter's voice raises. Taking a step closer, she keeps her voice low.

 

“We did, but I figured fusing a lamp inside of a wall because of some stupid nightmare was a good enough reason to get another bottle of them. Being a danger to others seems a good enough reason to make that promise null and void.” She whispers harshly at the older girl.

 

“Oh,” a furious look of realization dawned her face, “This is because you don’t want the boys to know, isn't it?”

 

“Know what?” Dean questions from behind Kirstin as he wipes the grease off of his hands. Spinning around, Kirstin yelps slightly at how close he was. 

 

“Nothing. You're daughter's just PMSing ‘cause I got a new bottle of suppressants from the mutant clinic in town.” She shrugs slightly, avoiding the reason  _ why  _ she got them.

 

“I thought we all agreed you didn't want to or need to take them?” Sam asks, coming from the direction of the house.

 

“Guess I changed my mind.” Another noncommittal shrug.

 

“Why?” 

 

“Yeah, Kirstin. Why?” Avery asks, feigning innocence.

 

Kirstin lets out a long groan, staring at the sky for a few seconds before deciding to rip off the proverbial band-aid. “Umm… I got this new ability, and my other ones are enhancing really quickly, and I didn't want to tell you because I'm honestly terrified. I've been trying to get them under control naturally, but it hasn't been working. So I started taking small doses of power suppressant to keep them at the normal level.”

 

“Kirstin,” Dean sighs out.

 

“I'm thinking about talking to Logan when I get to New York, asking him if he'd be willing to take me to the X-mansion. I would ask Wade, but I have a feeling he might try to seduce Colossus, despite his boyfriend being a ball of fury with point knives in his hands. So, not a big deal guys. Who wants to play poker?” A chorus of agreement rings through the group, despite the worried look on the Winchester brother's faces.  _ Maybe I'll even take Jack. They could help him too… I hope _ .

 

#

 

Kirstin bangs her fist harshly on the door of the shitty apartment, holding three boxes of pizza in her other. “Delivery.”

 

“I prefer Digiorno.” Wade responds, letting the door hit the wall after opening it.

 

“Good, that's what I brought. Pre-cooked too.” She shoves the boxes into Wade’s arms, giving Logan a hug. The man was wearing a white wife-beater and jeans, as per usual, and smelled of his cigars. Pulling away, she turns to Wade, getting directly to the point. “As much as I love spending time with you regenerative psychos, I actually need a flavor.”

 

“Cherry or strawberry?” The Merc with a Mouth questions through a mouthful of pizza.

 

“I need the number that the SHIELD recruiter gave you last year, after the fall. Do you still have it?” Wade stops chewing for a second, staring the girl down for a moment. He then turns to his knife drawer, pulling the thing out and reaching under it. He pulls his hand back with a wadded up piece of printer paper.

 

She moves to grab it from him, but he holds it out of her reach, “Ah-uh. Nope, not until you tell me why you need it.” The Winchester glares at the man in front of him.

 

“Because, you fucking wrinkly testicle, my powers are going haywire and I want to find my parents to see if they can tell me anything. SHIELD may know something I don't, and whatever it is didn't make it into the information dump by Nat.” 

 

“Or maybe it did and was taken down by someone before it was leaked.” Logan offers gruffly, taking a slice of pizza.

 

“No. I hacked every file I could get ahold of, backtraced it to the old SHIELD systems and dug through those. Nothing. That either means that I'm not in any files, or-”

 

“Or someone from the Agency kept the files out of the system.” The older man finishes. 

 

“But I might be in the new system. But I need to get a feel for their system, and by that, I mean plant an Avengers bug in one of the hideouts. They knew my adopted mother, they'd trust me enough to take me to one. I just need to get ahold of them.”

 

“And if that doesn't work?” The X-man questions.

 

“Then we’re going to the X-mansion.”  Wade and Kirstin say at the same time.

 

“I really don't see the big deal here, Kirstin. You're still growing, your powers are still developing. Take the time to control them and you'll be fine.” Logan tries to explain away, grabbing another slice of pizza.

 

“Except I've been trying every trick I know, and I still can't get it under control. Then I decided to go back on those suppressant pills SHIELD put me on in the beginning.” She pulls the bottle out of her hoodie pocket, “These are the highest legal dosage allowed to be given out, and I've taken one a day like your supposed to, and I can  _ still _ use my abilities, Logan. So then I thought,  _ oh maybe if I double it _ , but guess what? Absolutely nothing happened. I'm scared to stop taking them.” 

 

“Does Dean know about this?” Wade asks, waiting for Kirstin to sit on the counter before handing her the paper.

 

“Not really. I told them I was taking a smaller dose than prescribed. And that I only take it at night. Guys, I'm terrified here. I'm in completely uncharted territory in this family. That's why I think that my biological parents can help me.”

 

“There's no way powers that strong isn't inherited.” Logan concedes, grumbling under his breath for a moment.

 

“Exactly. Thank you both for your help, and letting me vent to you. Enjoy your pizza, and I will see you guys later.” She kisses Logan's scratchy cheek, and Wades bumpy one, before leaving the apartment.

 

#

 

“Agent May, please. I just need my file. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less.” Kirstin is above many things, but at this point, begging is not one of them. She also isn't above playing up emotions to get what she wants. She had three S.I. bugs on her and had already placed one in the computer before May came in.

 

“That's already asking too much, Kirstin. We can't help you here. Your file is above any of our security clearances, and even if it wasn't, we don't hand out our files to non-Agents. Even if they were taken care of by people who were once a part of this.” May turns to exit the lab they were standing in pausing at the doorway she was exiting through. “Go home, Kirstin. You aren't a part of this anymore. Natasha made sure of that.” Kirstin's eyebrows furrow.

 

“What does that mean?” May continues to way up the stairs, ignoring her. “Wait, what does that mean!?!” Kirstin lets out a huff of air when May disappears from sight, glancing around the room.

 

Moving to head out of the huge plane, a small noise catches her attention. She spins around quickly, her telekinesis wrapping around the hidden girl’s hair, dragging her out of her hiding spot. “Ouch. Shit.”

 

“Who are you?” Kirstin demands, taking a step forward.

 

“Someone who just helped you out. We don't have any records of your parents, and your DNA is so messed up, the blood tests couldn't connect you to anybody.” The brunette woman explains, wincing every time she breathed. Watching her for a few more seconds, Kirstin releases the woman's hair, snorting at the sigh of relief.

 

“Why would you help me?” Kirstin questions skeptically, watching the way the girl acted.

 

“Because I've been where you are.” She tosses Kirstin a flash drive. “Here. Now get out of here before May kills us both.” Waiting a few more skeptic moments, Kirstin slides the flash drive into her pocket, walking backward until she reached the exit of the plane.


	5. 3

Wanda stares at the television screen in front of her, the news reporter slandering the Avengers for Lagos. Kirstin enters the room, planning to head directly to her room to check the file the young agent had given her but slows to a stop at the reporter's voice. She recognized it a little too well. Sighing, she walks behind the older woman, muting the blonde reporter televised commentary on why people don't need the Avengers. “You know, I was once told that reporters were supposed to be unbiased but that woman is so biased that it probably physically pains her.”

 

The dark copper-haired girl's sad green eyes meet blue ones. “What do you mean?”

 

Kirstin jumps over the back of the couch, her arm that she used to hold on to the back stays thrown over the distraught Wanda’s shoulders. “Let me introduce you to Christine Everhart. She hates Tony with a vengeance and, by association, is not too enthusiastic about the Avengers. She tends to focus on the harsher lights of the battles instead of the whole truth. You definitely save more lives than you could ever harm. Just give it time, you'll see.”

 

“We shouldn't be harming any. I could've crushed the explosion, wait for the oxygen to be completely cut off, anything besides just tossing it at the building.” Wanda counters pushing off the couch to come to stand in front of the TV, reading the captions that are always on for Clint, in case he's not wearing his hearing aids and wants to watch some television. She reads them for a moment before turning to face the other mutant again. “It's what you would've done, isn't it?”

 

“I would've…” Kirstin swallows, sitting up, thinking about what she would've done in Wanda's place. “I would have trusted my instincts, Wanda. Your instinct was to protect Steve, and that's what you did. None of us here blame you for that, least of all me or, hell, even Tony. He would have done the same thing for that man without question and probably get himself killed in the process. You did your best and  _ that _ is all that matters. Everyone makes mistakes.”  _ God, I sound like the overly supportive best friend from a Hallmark movie,  _ she thinks to herself.

 

“How many innocent people die when they make those mistakes?” The woman snaps harshly, anger and self-hatred clear in her body language.

 

“Forty. Twelve. Seventeen. Ninety.” Kirstin responds loudly. Wanda's body stays stiff, but her anger momentarily shifts to confusion.

 

“What.”

 

“Forty. That's how many died because of one of my mistakes. I got scared during a firefight and killed eighty Hydra agents and scientists. And forty loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Then I just left. Took off, didn't look back, tried my damndest not to remember. Sure as hell didn't feel remorse until later; until I understood what remorse  _ was.” _ Kirstin shrugs, forcing herself to keep going. “Twelve. After I got out, I killed twelve more when I destroyed some cars. Seventeen. When I turned nine, I… I remembered my training. I killed seventeen other trainees that Hydra would send my way, in the beginning. I’m sure I killed more. I became the golden standard; if someone lasted more than ten minutes in one round with me, they were worthy to be trained, and, after being trained, if they lasted more than half an hour, they were kept, sent on missions, all the bloody gory stuff that they enjoyed.”

  
  


“And ninety?” Wanda asks, sitting on the edge of the coffee table.

 

“Ninety was another memory. I was with another kid, can’t remember much about him still, except that he was a boy and we could do some serious damage together. We combined some sort of abilities and just… tore apart a shopping mall to,” Kirstin chuckles bitterly, “to kill one target. One man Hydra considered a threat took eighty-nine innocent lives, maybe ninety depending on the person they were after. The point of these sob stories, Wanda, is that having powers like ours… aren’t always going to be smooth, people are probably going to get hurt while you learn. The point is to learn from these things, prepare for battles like that, be able to take out a bomb without hurting people.” Standing up, she pats the woman’s shoulder softly starting to make a quick exit before turning in the doorway, “Oh, and uh… don’t watch the news. They always make you feel either extremely bad or extremely proud and neither are very good things to have in a hero.”

 

Wanda turns to look at the television for a long moment, meaning to ask how she knew that, but when she turned around Kirstin was already gone. Standing up, she turns off the TV and exits the room.

 

#

 

Kirstin purses her lips, going over her file one last time. She was an 0-8-4, a weapon of mass destruction that Fury wanted under control and out of the way. He didn't believe she could control herself or her abilities, that she would go rogue and hurt people.  _ All I'm doing is blindly following that dumb Eye-Patch's wishes. Is that really what I want to do? Be the mutant secret of a dead man and his demolished spy agency?  _

 

Staring at the bottle of suppressants, sitting next to the computer she was using. The white bottle was almost mocking her.  _ Aria just wanted me to be myself, maybe that's what I should do. Screw SHIELD, they're assholes. I'm doing this my way.  _ She snatches the bottle off of the counter, tossing the pills down the garbage disposal and throwing the bottle away.  _ No more hiding.  _

 

#

 

Grabbing her bag, she heads to the Med Bay, using telepathy to hide from view. She arrives quickly, tucking her bag behind a large fake plant, looking to find Mason Belikov typing away on the computer, letting out a few Russian curse words. “Damn, Mase. You're feisty today.”

 

Mason Belikov, son of Police Officer Rose Hathaway and a man with the last name Belikov, (which is basically the only thing Mason knows about his father, except that he looks almost exactly like him) was a long term friend of Kirstin's, despite actually being a few years older than her, and knowing Avery first. In fact, she is friends with the group Avery's known since freshman year,  when Kirstin was an eighth-grader. Now, Avery and Mason were in their second year of college, and Mason working alongside Helen Cho to learn more about working in an actual hospital- well, the Medbay anyway.

 

The tall man rolls his eyes, the brown pigment of them reminding the girl of maple syrup any time she catches his eye. He tilts his head over the edge of his chair, letting out a long groan. “God, Cho's assistant is incompetent, Kirsty. Why can't you fire her and take her place?”

 

She kisses the man's cheek, perching on the edge of his desk, “Because, Mason, Helen chooses who works on her staff, not us. Bring it to her attention. I mean, there's only so many times this assistant can get off with a warning.” 

 

He runs a hand over his face, the light-catching his brown- nearly black- hair. He peeks between his fingers for a second, “I hate it when you have a good argument. It's infuriating.”

 

Kirstin tilts her head, a condescending smirk taking over her face as she plays up the innocent doe-eyed look she knows so well, “Is that why you're always so angry?”

 

The earns a chuckle out of him, “Fuck you.” Another sigh leaves his mouth. “Did you know that King T’Challa and Princess Shuri of Wakanda are upstairs presenting the alternative to the Accords?”

 

Kirstin rests her head in her hands. Ever since the appearance of the Accords two weeks ago, everyone in the Compound has been trying to find a way out of being under the government's control. It isn’t that they don’t believe in being held accountable, but every one of them has been put through tough times solely because of the government’s corruption. So, after the whole Bucky Barnes isn’t, in fact, the previous King’s (T’Challa’s father) killer, (but was a brainwashed assassin who killed Tony’s parents) King T'Challa agreed to help the Avengers, offering the amnesty under Wakandan law. He was approaching the U.N. with his proposal in a week and wanted the Avenger’s fully on board before he walks into that meeting. 

 

Essentially, he wants to take over responsibility for the Avenger’s actions. Instead of them being part of the government like the army or Wakanda’s Dora Milaje, they were free to act without government okay, though Wakanda would be held responsible for the damages. Though, considering how much money Wakanda is making now that they are selling their technology and being open to the outside world, she thinks T’Challa realized how easy it would be to fix the damages. 

 

“You realize that this deal also includes S.I., right? Tony and his company would have express permission to work with Shuri to upgrade and remodel millions of dollars worth of vibranium that could be used in Wakanda itself, or even be sold worldwide.” Mason adds on, almost as if he was reading her mind.  _ Of course not, that’s her power. _

 

“Of course, Wakanda would make a partial profit from those sales, but so would Tony, and S.I. And if T’Challa thinks that Tony isn’t going to try to help pay for the damages caused by them in battle; that King isn’t nearly as bright as the media claims.” Kirstin adds, knowing her uncle too well. Tony Stark was the oldest Winchester brother, given up for adoption because he’d been born a month after John had been shipped out to war, and they were far too young to be parents. Avery and Kirstin had been living with him on and off since they started school, mostly being taken care of by nannies and going to school there until they moved into Stark Tower, or well… Avengers tower. Then they went to school in New York and was usually taken care of by a mix between nannies, themselves, Tony, and the rest of the team.

 

“This thing is going to take months to get through, and that’s even if the UN agrees to the damn thing,” Mason complains, letting Kirstin pull up the video footage in the conference room.

 

“It should pass, Mase. They just want to be able to hold someone accountable for the damages done so the money doesn’t come out of taxpayers' wallets, or the government official’s paychecks. I honestly think this would be the best way to go. I know Bruce definitely wouldn’t have wanted any of us to work with Ross. That evil dick still wants Bruce’s head on a pike.” Everybody in the conference room was reading over their own copies of the King’s proposal while T’Challa seems to be explaining most of it at the head of the table. 

 

“I wonder if they would call it the Wakandan Accords. I also wonder what’s going to happen to Barnes. And Wanda. And Pietro.”

 

“Well, Pietro is getting out of the facility soon and is supposedly all healed up after his half-year nap. Six months of physical therapy and careful monitoring by doctors seems to have done the trick. I can imagine Pietro is dying to stop taking things so slowly. They're setting him up with one of the Avengers’ shrinks that have been vetted in every possible way, to get a gage on his mental state. I’m nearly positive he’s going to end up with some form of mental disorder. No one goes through that much pain in their life and walks away scotch free. As for Bucky? Tony and Steve talked through it for a while and came to a few conclusions. One, it wasn’t his fault, what he did to Howard and Maria, but he can’t stay here. He’s too much of a flight risk, Tony doesn’t think he can stomach seeing the man every day quite yet, and he needs serious mental help. They're sending him to Wakanda. They have advanced technology there to make sure he gets the help he needs while he sorts himself out, it’s far enough away that we don't have to worry about Hydra triggering him, and they have the means to make sure he won’t run.” Kirstin explains, letting Mason pull her off the table and partially into his lap so they can watch the screen together.

 

“I honestly doubt he’s running anywhere.” The eighteen-year-old states heavily. His friend nods along.

 

“I would run. As far away as quickly as possible, but I think he’s done running. I certainly don’t blame him. As for Wanda, the original agreement still stands. She works on her ability, and sees her shrink every other week- actually, I think they upped it to every week after what happened with Crossbones- and she can stay on as an Avenger, and will continue to be monitored for the small amount of time leftover from the original agreement. She’s trying to make amends, Mason, and now she has to add the guilt of that misdirected explosion on her back. Her mind is fragile, but she’s working on it. I mean, if we look at it from the upside, her world is starting to look up from here. She’s getting her brother back, they’re trying to get in contact with their birth parents, with the little the two remember and the DNA samples help, and she has Vision and everyone here to support her.” 

 

“Her support system went from one person to so many people she probably doesn’t know what to do with it.” Was Mason’s joking response. 

 

Kirstin snorts, “No kidding.” They let the conversation die off for a moment listening to the hustle and bustle of the Med Bay around them. It stayed that way for a few minutes before Mason turned to her with an impish smile.

 

“So how old is this guy you brought with you? Jack?”

 

She looks down at him, genuinely surprised, “You mean my cousin? Jack Kline?”

 

“Yeah, him.” The smile grows wider. Kirstin rolls her eyes skyward, glancing slightly to the left to check the time.  _ An hour until the Greyhound leaves.  _

 

“Well, he’s physically twenty, and has a mentality near there, but he was born last year, so be gentle. You have my permission to  _ date  _ him, but if I find out it is just a fuck and dump- at least one that isn’t a  _ one hundred percent mutual fucking and dumping-  _ I will murder you. With a pen.”

 

“Aye, aye, Captain. Anything you’d care to share?” He does a little salute, leaning back in his chair when she stands up, exiting out of the camera feed.

 

“You get the three. Everything else you figure out on your own.” She states firmly, pulling out the old game they came up with when Kirstin was a Freshman. It was a way to either learn about the guys they wanted the other to check out, or to get any information about the guys they were already interested in. It was relatively simple; you name something they're interested in, like movies or books, a snack food they like, candy or regular food, and a drink they like, like apple cider or vodka.  Sometimes you get a two-hour drunken explanation on why the person’s a great match for you (from Mason), or a ten-minute debate on why you shouldn't go after the captain of the football team who just got dumped by his girlfriend (to Mason). “Star Wars, he’s only seen the originals, nougat, and hot chocolate with whipped cream and crushed peppermint on top. I’ve got to go, but heed my warnings Mason. I will find you, no matter how far you run.” She picks up Mason’s hat, pulling it on her head. “And I’m borrowing this. Don’t worry, I’ll bring it back. I promise.”

 

“Okay, Kirsty. You better bring that back, it’s my favorite. Maybe we should go for lunch tomorrow.” Mason smiles in her direction, eyes focusing back onto the work he was doing before she got there. Kirstin smiles back, though it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. They high-five, sliding their hands against each others, pulling away to snap their fingers, all in synch.

 

“Maybe. We’ll just have to see how tomorrow goes, won’t we?” She layers the telepathic illusion thick, picking up her bag before climbing into the elevator, heading up to the main floor. Stepping out, she sets the bag in the hallway closest to the door, following the noises of people until reaching the kitchen. In there, there were four people; Avery, her girlfriend Sabrina Hart,  an unidentified redheaded woman, and an unidentified blonde man. They had textbooks sprawled out on the table around them, in deep discussion about something.

 

The guy must’ve seen Kirstin out of the corner of his eye, because he stops mid-sentence, smiling at the girl in the doorway. “And who is this cutie?” He sends her an overly flirty smirk, earning an eye roll from both Kirstin and the redhead.

 

“Call me cutie again, and I’ll shove a knife up your ass. See how cute that is.” Kirstin shoots back, moving to the fridge to grab a bottle of water.

“Ooh, a feisty one.” Was his ever intelligent response. Avery spins to look at Kirstin for a second, before spinning back to face the guy.

 

“If you even so much as think about it, I will chop your dick off and feed it to you. She is my sister, not some bimbo you can spend the night with just to get your rocks off.” Kirstin takes a step back, smiling slightly at the scene.

 

“Yeah, Ryder. Wouldn’t want to lose your precious manhood.” The fifteen-year-old jokes, looking between the blondes, who seem to be in an intense staring match. Stepping around the ‘Ryder’s’ chair, she sticks her hand out to the girl next to him. “I’m Kirstin.”

 

“I'm-”

 

“Esteban?” Kirstin questions, mostly joking.

 

“-Jordan.” She spits out at the same time as laughing. “That’s Ryder, my brother. Ignore him, that’s what they do. Or normally do anyway.” The girl, Jordan, tucks a piece of hair behind her ear, hitting Ryder’s arm slightly. “Focus. We need to work.”

 

“All work and no play makes Ryder a very cranky boy.” Was Sabrina’s joking remark. The table erupted into laughter, so Kirstin took that as her chance to exit.

 

“I’m heading out, Aves. Try to keep your friends under control, we don’t need a repeat of senior year.”  Avery tsks slightly in response, waving her hand in Kirstin’s general direction, already focusing back onto the assignment.

 

Ryder, however, had his eyes focused on the girl, “Later, Violet.”

 

“Bye, Rapunzel.” She hears Jordan laugh as she exits the room, walking down the hall and slinging the bag over her shoulder. 


	6. 4

_ Skye enters the room with a huff, her hand on her head. She sets her computer down, watching May work on the holographic computer. “She pulled my hair. With her  _ mind _. I'm not sure if I should be pissed or thoroughly impressed.” _

 

_ “Did you give her the file?” May states calmly, flipping through the electronic file she was examining. Skye sighs softly, opening up her computer. _

 

_ “What you'd let me give her? Why take so much out? I mean the base where she was found, the extent of her abilities? Isn't that stuff she should know? I understand Garrett and Ward, you don't want her to go on a hunt for a dead man and a sociopath that is already in our custody. I don't necessarily agree but I understand. But why the Amethyst initiative or the experiments Hydra tan on her. Project Fenris, the-” _

 

_ May easily silences the girl, “The information would only hinder her. We need her in a position to help and defend herself if needed. If Hydra becomes a bigger threat than what we've defeated? We'll activate the Amethyst initiative. Until then, I will give what information I think is sufficient to keep Coulson's little hellion out of our files.” She finishes calmly, not even so much as a twitch revealing if Skye's amateur interrogation irritated her or not. _

 

_ Coulson laughs to himself from his place in the doorway. “We always called her the little angel actually. Inside joke, nowadays. She was more a little spy than anything. Somehow always knows where to send those notebooks.” May's lips twitch slightly at the mention of the notebooks, though she continues to go through the file. Skye’s curiosity had been peaked, however. _

 

_ “Notebooks?” She looks between the two, “She sends you notebooks? Why? Couldn't she just send an email?” There was another pause, as another question pops into her head. “Wait, how do you even know each other? And how does she knows you are alive?” _

 

_ Phil lets out a chuckle, holding up his hand, “With some training, you could become an interrogator.” He jokes softly. “Kirstin is my adoptive cousin, Aria's, adopted daughter. She was a 0-8-4 found about a mile away from a destroyed Hydra base. She grew up there, apparently. For seven years. Aria took her in, and that was that. She's a telepath and has telekinetic capabilities. I saw Aria's new family every year, at least once a year, three times at the most. Even after the no-contact order set upon them after Aria's death, it turns out that was because Aria knew Garrett was Hydra and was planning on taking him out. The only time there was supposed to be contact with S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were when Fury did his random check-ins.  _

 

_ A while after I died, Fury did one of his check-ins, alerting Kirstin that I was alive again. So, instead of asking to see me, she wrote to me in notebooks. Three of them. All of them were information about the Avengers, mostly the Captain and his old team. She knew I liked the Howling Commandos, so she wrote about them. She never talked about herself, or if she could see me. Never about the agency, or the missions and hunts her family went on. The only information she learned and observed through watching or talking to them. It was a distraction in the purest form.” He shakes his head, clearly done with the story, “Kids can really surprise you, huh?” _

 

#

 

The girl lets out a frustrated noise,  the stump she was trying to uproot shaking momentary, but altogether remaining where it was. She lets out an angered yell, kicking up dirt before plopping to the ground, taking in the scenery around her. The house she was staying in was a few miles away, down the path to her left that’s slightly hidden behind the trees. The woods, though appearing rather thick from the outside, seem to thin out a lot the closer you get to the center of the woods. The ground was slightly damp from the frost earlier in the morning, though the sun seemed to shine directly on her. She had dressed in layers when she came out here earlier; a camisole with a flannel shirt over it, and a jacket over that. Now, three hours later, she was sitting on the jacket to keep her butt from getting wet and had the flannel tied around her waist.

 

“It’s frustrating, isn’t it? When you can’t get it to work when trying?” A man’s voice inquiries from her right. The knives from her open backpack come flying out, all ready to be thrown in a moment's notice, the purple mist around her hands a dead give away that it was her doing it. Without much thought, actually, without any thought at all, the underbrush of the forest began to raise as the slight panic builds in her chest. The man she was staring at doesn’t even flinch at the knives staring him in the face, nor does he laugh at the fact that the underbrush came with it.

 

“Who the fuck are you?” Kirstin nearly growls, letting one blade go flying forward, stopping an inch away from plunging right between his eyes. His cold blue eyes barely flicker to look at the knife, instead focusing his eyes on the girl.

 

“I go by many names, it happens sometimes. I’m known as Erik Lehnsherr to my few friends, and my students. You may know me as Magneto.” She lets out a bitter laugh, the knives flying into the bag at her command, knowing they wouldn’t do anything.

 

“Magneto. The guy who served two prison sentences, both times for attacking a president. How did you get off with a total of thirty years?” She glances around, watching the stump next to her begin to shake again.

 

“That’s what happens when you have a telepath for a husband. You get let off the hook more times than you deserve.” Erik’s demeanor stays cool and calm, despite Charles’ concerned voice in his head. The car they had driven up here had begun shaking, despite being quite a ways off.

 

“You know, kids around me grew up scared of you, and the parents were always concerned you were going to go evil again,” Kirstin states, trying to sound bored, though the edge was still in her tone. “I, quite frankly, wasn't scared of you. I thought your powers were cool, I thought your plan was idiotic, and I thought your name was completely stupid, but I wasn’t scared of you. I mean, seriously? Magneto? You just added an ‘o’ to the end of magnet and tried to play it off by pronouncing it slightly different.” She rambles quietly, more to herself than him.

 

“You seem quite scared now.” He states blandly, watching her hands twitch slightly, the purple glow still present.

 

“Not of you. My powers tend to lash out a lot, and I’ve been avoiding people since I ditched my family seven months back.” Seeing something flicker in his eyes, she decided to try and take that route of conversation to distract him. As she speaks she slowly, lets her bag zip up, “I mean, it was for their own protection of course. Out of control telepathy never ends well, especially when you fight people for a living, you know? It’s just a little…”  _ Fuck it. _ The bag comes flying towards her, so she slides her arm through the strap, taking off in the opposite direction of the man, and her place.

 

Erik lets her run about seven yards, reaching out to the knives in the bag, and the zipper. To drag her back here. He also uses the metal bracelet, and necklace on her person, so she couldn’t ditch the backpack and run. When he reaches his side, he casually puts his arm over her shoulder, guiding her back the way he came, which was slightly closer than the route to the place she was staying at. “That wasn’t a very bright move.”

 

“That seems to be an ongoing pattern in my life.” Was Kirstin’s flat response. “How did you even find me?”

 

“Logan. He sent us after you to make sure you didn’t do anything stupid. Though, in my opinion, running away from a family who loves you s stupid in and of itself.” 

 

She glares at the man next to her, and if looks could kill; he’d be dead and buried by now. “I’m not running away from my family, Asshole. I talk to them all the time. I’m trying to track down… well, I’m actually… I’m trying to track down a lot of people.” She thinks back to her file.  _ Found in what appeared to be an old Hydra facility.  _

 

“Yeah? Got any names?” He catches her as she trips over a log, rolling his eyes at her stumble. “Watch where you are walking.”

 

“I…” She pauses momentarily, debating if she should tell him or not.  _ He knows Logan, and I haven’t picked up any ill intent.  _ Except the want to slap Logan, but Kirstin often finds herself in the same mood. “Just one. Hydra. I find one of their bases, and I could get more.” They reach a clearing, where another blue-eyed brunette stands, this one in a cardigan, and givens of a teacher-y vibe.

 

“So this is a revenge mission?” The new one responds, his British accent oddly soothing, despite the clear disappointment in his voice.

 

“Nah man, not revenge. Information. Don’t know much about my life before my family took me in, and apparently, they were a part of it. I mean there are so many different ways that could pan out. Maybe I was an experiment gone wrong, a product of two villainous dingbats, maybe the kid of a Hydra supremacist. My parents could have worked for them, or been taken by them, or for all I know I was just a little kid with amnesia who wandered into a bad place at the wrong time.”  _ Though, that last one doesn’t quite explain the nightmares.  _ She thinks sullenly. “I’m powerful, really powerful, and that’s not just a teenager bragging, that’s a girl terrified of what she can do. I just wanna know where I came from. Nothing less.” The British one seems to examine her for a moment, his expression unreadable.

 

“Fascinating.” He mutters after a moment. “Are you doing that on purpose?” Kirstin glances herself over once, fidgeting slightly.

 

“Doing what?” The purple-haired girl tries to read his mind, quickly gaining access, despite the walls he has up.  _ Charles Xavier. _ _ Uh, oh.  _

 

“Blocking me from reading your mind?” Shaking her head no, she turns to look back into the woods, a small pout on her lips. The flickering of his thoughts rush through her mind, his focus on trying to get into her head, causing memories of a weird helmet to appear.

 

“I don't have an adamantium skull and I didn't even know you were a telepath until you said that. I can read your mind, easily.” The men trade a quick glance over her head, the walls in Charles' head flying back up.

 

“So you can't control your abilities? Not completely, anyway.” She shakes her head again looking between Charles and Erik for a moment, who were both giving her the same look. “How would you like to train at my school? It's for gifted people like you.”

 

“You mean the X-mansion.” Looking at their shocked faces, she lets out a laugh, “Logan did tell you  _ everything _ right?”

 

“Not particularly. We have your name; Kirstin Winchester, that you're from Kansas but live in New York with some relatives during the school year and that you ran away from home seven months ago.” The crinkle of her nose earns a confused sound out of the shorter man. “What?”

 

“Running away implied that I'm not going back, and I plan to go back. I just didn't want to be in one of the most populated cities in America when trying to get something that can send cars flying through the air with a blink under control. And my relative is Tony Stark. If you guys still want me to come to your school, you have to understand that you're putting yourself in a lot of danger.” She looks between the two a serious look on her face.

 

“You have very little belief that you can grasp the control of your powers.” Erik grinds out, seemingly upset about it.

 

“I know I don't have control of it now, but I have to believe I will eventually,  or I will make no progress. I  _ mean _ that I have a lot of powerful people after me, just by existing. Inviting me in puts you in the direct path of these people.”  _ Michael, Hydra, any villain that wants money or attention from Tony Stark or Iron Man, or even the Avengers. Maybe even my birth parents, who knows. _

 

“I pity anyone who comes to my school looking for trouble.”  _ Especially when you begin to master your gifts. _ I smile at the projected thought, looking between the two men. 

 

“Alright. Let's see this school then.”

 

#

 

Charles glances at the backseat as his husband drives. Kirstin had fallen asleep twenty minutes into the journey and has been sleeping for nearly an hour. “Do you think she could be her?”

 

“Charles-”  Erik begins, the doubt clear in his mind.

 

“No, Erik. Think about it. I couldn't read Cassie's mind when I was pregnant, but I could with all the others. I couldn't even read her after she was born, nor would Cerebro work to find her. It didn't work on either of them. She has purple hair and purple eyes and she's a  _ telepath _ you cannot tell me that these are just coincidences.”

 

“Kayla told me she…”  _ killed them.  _ His brain supplies harshly. “She told me what she did to them, Charles.” Erik grips the steering wheel tightly, letting himself glance at the girl in the rear-view mirror.

 

“But the twins aren't, we know that for a fact. Who's to say that she didn't lie about Cassie too?” The telepath lets Erik pull his hand into his lap, squeezing lightly.

 

“We checked every place we could access, Charles. We even dug through every database we could find, even the SHIELD dump. There was nothing on her.” It's not that Erik doesn't want to hope that his child is out there, but after so much loss, it was easier to believe the darker truth than the hopeful antics of his husband. “And even if she did survive, Michael probably got a hold of her. He wanted a weapon, and he will do anything to keep it. Keep her.” Charles nods. 

 

“I know. That's what I'm afraid of.” 


	7. 5

_ May 3, 2015 _

 

_ Kirstin adjusts her hat, sitting in one of the Quinjet seats impatiently, watching Bruce look out of the end of it. The thirteen-year-old had begged to come along after learning that everyone was going, leaving her by herself at the Tower, something that hadn't happened since she got the X-Man to take her home two weeks prior. The irrational fear of being left alone, and the Avengers’ worrying about Ultron attacking the Tower again, ended with her being taken along on the Quinjet.  _

 

_ The man begins shaking unnaturally in front of her. “Bruce?” Standing up, she walks cautiously forward and touches his shoulder. “Bruce?” She grabs his arm this time, his red eyes meeting hers. He begins to turn green and grow slightly, causing the teenage girl to stumble back slightly, trying to calm him down. A loud sound of protest leaves Bruce's mouth when the girl takes a step toward him, his arm swipes out, the unnatural strength of the Hulk already there.  The girl goes flying backward, her body hits the other end of the aircraft, head cracking as she drops limply to the ground. A fully shifted Hulk stumbles into a run, taking off as the girl stands up. A while later, when Kirstin finally exits the base, the Hulk was nowhere to be found.  _

 

_ Looking around, she walks over to the side of the vehicle, using her telekinesis to climb on top of it to get a better vantage point in an attempt to see where the Giant Green guy ran off to. In the process of looking around, she notices a blue blur speed toward the opening of the aircraft, two bodies appearing as it disappears. She quickly ducks down as they glance around, hoping they didn't notice her. “The girl.” The woman starts out, turning to look at the gray-haired man. “Where did she go?” _

 

_ “How am I supposed to know? I was too busy saving you.” They both had accents Kirstin recognized as Sokovian.  _ This must be the powerful twins,  _ Kirstin thinks to herself.  _ He's fast and she's telepathic. What are their names?

 

_ “Well, she was here a minute ago and now she is not. We need to find the Avengers. She was with them, so she must be one.” Kirstin carefully tucks her hair back into her cap, her hand trailing down to her boot, where she had a blade strapped to her ankle. _

 

_ “Or we could go while they are distracted.” The gray-haired Sokovian argues, sticking close to his sister. The girl turns to look at him sharply. _

 

_ “I couldn't read her mind, I want to know why. We  _ need _ to find her.” She stresses the word need, she sent him an odd look, earning an almost annoyed laugh from her brother.  _

 

_ “I will look around the perimeter and see if she ran. Stay here.” Pressing a kiss to his sister's forehead, he takes off in a blur of color, disappearing to areas farther away. Now or never. With the brother gone, Kirstin pushes herself to her feet, forgoing the knife after having surveyed what had happened to the others, and after pulling them out of the visions. _

 

_ Running across the top of the jet, Kirstin tackles the girl to the ground, trapping her under her body as the woman struggles, crying out. “You want to know what it feels like, mental manipulation? Have a taste of your own damn medicine.” She shoves away the woman's attempted attacks by using her abilities to keep her arms on the ground arm and pressing her smaller hands against her temples. With a harsh shove of her abilities, Kirstin tugs every memory she could find forward, breaking a wall she doubted Wanda even knew was there. _

 

Wanda, _ she thinks to herself bitterly,  _ Wanda and Pietro Maximoff are their names. _ Wanda screams loudly at memories of torture and mind-wiping are pulled forward, hands breaking free of their holds and coming to claw at Kirstin's hands. The only thing Kirstin hears is a mental cry of  _ Wanda, _ seemingly screamed through the field before she's being picked up and slammed harshly against a tree, his hand grabbing her in a chokehold and her hat flying off. “What did you do to her?”  The grip on her throat prevents her from responding, not that the young man seems to care too much. “You're dead.” _

 

_ “Not… the best…i-idea.” She chokes out, “Killing me… means anger- ing the Avengers. More than,” She doesn't bother finishing her sentence, eyes blurring around the edges. Thinking quickly, she knees him in the crotch, earning a harsh groan pulled from his gut. His hand loosens around her throat, and she uses the distraction to knock his hand away, spinning into a harsh sidekick. The strength of the kick sends him tumbling backward a few feet, surprise clear on his face.  _

 

_ Pietro moves faster than she can run after, though she can see his movements with her enhanced eyesight. Grabbing his sister, he speeds away from the Quinjet and her. Loud crashing comes from the other end of the hill, soon followed by yelling through the comm system in the jet. “Kirstin! We need you! Code Green, Natasha is currently incapacitated.” Kirstin looks back toward the direction where she could still see the blue line zipping off to, getting farther away by the second. Taking a step toward them, she hears Tony's voice again, “Kirstin!” _

 

_ Locking her jaw, she rocks on the balls of her feet, spinning to run toward the loud crashes,  _ “Damn it!” 

 

#

 

Kirstin walks along the edge of the house, feeling out of place in the groups of students around the house, despite being here for nearly two months. She'd gotten a lot more control over her telekinesis, though it still needed work. So did the newest ability that had begun to develop. Charles had called it Reality Warping, and that his son had it too. She was nearly positive the students around her were scared of her, though she refuses to stoop as low as to read their minds.

 

A flash of red hair at the edge of the property catches her eye. Reaching out carefully, she easily recognizes the familiar mind.  _ Kirstin. _ Was the only thing she could read, a simple command portrayed in the single word. Glancing to see if anyone was paying attention, she threw up a telekinetic wall, just in case, and marches out to meet up with the woman.

 

Natasha quickly pulls her into the wooded area, slamming Kirstin against the tree. “Hydra hunting? By yourself at that? Trying to get yourself killed?” She whispers harshly. 

 

“You don't have to whisper Natasha, I'm not in hiding. Do they-”

 

“No. They think you've been here this whole time, and Dr. Xavier covered for you. Answer the question.” Kirstin pushes the woman off with a slight telepathic shove.

 

She fixes her shirt so she had a minor distraction, “No. Besides, I can't die. We established that when Avery shot me through the chest and the bullet fell out as my body healed. What are you doing here?” Kirstin watches her uncle's girlfriend study her for a moment, before pulling out a flash drive.

 

“I have your file.” Is all she says, setting the drive in the girl’s palm.

 

“I already-” Natasha cuts her off quickly.

 

“I have  _ Fury's  _ and Hydra's versions of your file. Not the shit-show May's trainee gave you. It doesn't have your parent's name, nor your full name, they were smart enough to keep that off the books. But there is a lot in there. When you got your powers, where you were held, even who brought you in. Wilson told me about your search, and I figured it could help to have all the information.” The redhead pulls the hood of her jacket up, moving to walk back into the woods. 

 

The girl stares at the file for a moment, nodding to herself before tucking it into her pocket, turning to walk inside. “Oh and Kirstin?” 

 

“Hmm?” She vocalizes, turning to face the ex-spy.

 

“Two requests. Call Steve and Tony. They're worried sick, even if they are too stubborn to admit it.” Kirstin nods, turning to look back at the mansion.

 

“And the other request?”

 

“Don't be an idiot. Bring backup.”  She snorts at that, walking back toward the mansion.

 

“Okay, Nat. Do the same.”

 

#

 

Unplugging the drive from her Stark Laptop, she closes it, exiting the room quietly. Walking briskly down the hall, she swiftly enters Charles’ open doored office, closing it behind her. The older man doesn't bother glancing up from the paperwork he was looking through.

 

“Yes, Kirstin? You want to talk about your Hydra search?” Said girl lets out a confused noise as he packs up what he was working on.

 

“Thought you couldn't read my mind?” Was her cheeky response.

 

“I may not be able to read your mind, Kirstin, but I can read Ms. Romanov's. Despite her excellent espionage skills, she is sadly not immune to telepathy.” He stands up, tucking the pages in a filing cabinet. “So, you want to head out to renew your search, and you wish to ask for help?” She laughs softly.

 

“I wouldn't bother you, except I can't drive, and I need some help from someone in Queens. Err… I guess I don't  _ need _ it, but I think he could use a little in-field conditioning. Plus, I know Nat isn't afraid to kick the crap out of me for not following her instruction.”  Charles nods, chuckling at the image of a normal human attacking the mutant girl while thinking up a plan. Scanning his mind, Kirstin nods enthusiastically.

 

“Yep, I like it. Let’s do that.”

 

#

 

“Mr. Stark is going to kill me for agreeing to this,” Peter complains, walking alongside the others. The teenager was Tony’s newest protege, Spider-Man, though he was out of costume at the moment, helping Kirstin when she asked. Charles and Erik were at the ends of the group, Kirstin and Charles telepathically checking the area every few minutes.

 

“Not before he kills me for dragging you along on this, but I’d rather get killed by him then Natasha. She’s very imaginative.” Peter shudders at the thought of what Natasha would do. Erik chuckles, shaking his head slightly. He was  Kirstin lets out a noise of mock surprise, “Oh! He does smile, that’s good information to have. Have to let the students know, maybe they’d stop pissing themselves in fear every time you so much as glance at them. Or I would let them know if they didn’t seem to be avoiding me like the plague.” Kirstin trails off quietly at the end, glancing down at the Stark phone, kicking a rock softly.

 

Erik watches her for a moment nudging her side lightly, “You’re powerful.”

 

She looks up, confusion clear on her face, “Hmm?”

 

“You’re powerful. It’s why they avoid you. You’re afraid of your powers, and you don’t have control, so they are afraid of you.” He explains, keeping his eyes on their surroundings. It was obvious that the words were supposed to be comforting. Kirstin laughs softly, shooting him an incredulous look. He glances down at his person, not finding anything wrong, so he looks up at her confused. That earns a louder laugh, one that earned a few chuckles out of him, despite his confusion. “What? I don’t- Why are you laughing?”

 

She quickly gets herself under control, letting out a soft giggle, “It’s just… you’re really bad at this whole comforting thing.” She pauses for a moment, checking the distance from the building they were looking for. “And I’m not. I’m not afraid of my powers, not really. It’s more about how quickly they’re growing. I mean, it was the final stretch, I’m not growing much more after this, and all of a sudden, they grow, and a new one develops, and they are… really powerful. I’m not afraid, Erik. Just confused.” The man stares at her for a moment, before smiling softly. “What?”

 

“Nothing.” He responds, his smile widening. 

 

“Don’t do that! You might break your face, Mr. ‘Death-glare-all-hours-of-the-day’.” When he just keeps on smiling, she starts laughing, “Okay, now you  _ have  _ to tell me.”

 

“It’s nothing. I’m just nearly positive that’s the most you’ve spoken about yourself since coming to the school. The most you've spoken at all, even. And it’s the first time you’ve used my actual name.” Erik’s face shifts from smiling, to smug, to neutral in a few short seconds, when the building they were looking for comes into view.  

 

Kirstin quickly hands Erik the phone she was holding, running to get to the abandoned building, breaking the lock with a single super-strengthen tug. She pulls the door open, scanning the dark area for a moment as the rest of them catch up. “There is no one here, thank Chuck, but I think I see a computer farther in. We have to be careful though, there could be anything in here.” Peter pulls his phone out, flicking on the flashlight as Kirstin wanders over to the wall, flicking on the lights. He shrugs, turning it off and tucking it away sheepishly.

 

“Why would they keep the electricity running to an abandoned base?” Charles asks rhetorically, carefully examining the place. Kirstin shrugs.

 

“Maybe it isn’t as abandoned as they thought. I mean,” She runs her hand along the desk full of computers, showing it to Charles, “No dust. If this place has been abandoned since I was seven, there’s bound to be dust.” She slings the bag she’s been carrying off of her shoulder, pulling out her laptop and some bugs, hooking a bug to each computer. After a few minutes of hacking, she was in.

 

Erik looms over her shoulder, watching her pull up the files. “And why would they let these files be left here? Somewhere easily found?”

 

“Because this place isn’t abandoned. Guys, you need to see this.” Kirstin quickly begins the download process, standing up and quickly following the sound of Peter’s voice. She lets out a choked sound at what she saw.

 

“Oh my god.” There were four chambers hooked to the wall, each one containing a frozen body. A blonde woman, a red-headed young man, a dark-haired child, and a red-headed child. A gasp from behind them causes Kirstin to spin around. “You recognize them?”

 

Charles was frozen, utter horror clear on his face, so Erik turns to answer instead, pulling his husband away from the chambers, “The adults, yes. I’ve never seen the children before. The man is Sean Cassidy, and the woman is-”

 

“Someone’s here.” Kirstin and Charles cut the man off at the same time. Kirstin runs back the  way they came and checked the computer.

 

“It’s not done downloading. There’s only three of them, we should be able to take them on, right? We need to get those people out of there, and I need to get this information.” Before any of the others respond, three women enter the room. Well, they might as well be one person. Their minds were connected in a way Kirstin had never seen before, they were walking at the exact same pace at the exact same speed, and they all looked exactly the same, down to the outfit.  _ Triplets.  _

 

“There’s no need for that.” One begins.  _ Phoebe.  _ Kirstin reads off of her.

 

“We’re not here to fight.” Another continues.  _ Sophie _

 

“In fact, who do you think got that information to the Black Widow in the first place?” The one in the middle finishes.  _ Ezme. _

 

Something triggers in Kirstin’s mind, earning a gasp from the girl.

 

_ “She’s killed two of my men in the past hour! I can’t get the monitors on her, let alone draw blood when she’s so volatile.” A man in a lab coat yells, looking toward another, this one in civilian clothing.  _

 

_ The first man holds up his hand in a calming gesture, “Calm down, Otto, my brother. There’s no need for hostility. Silverfox!” A woman quickly enters the small field of vision, “Take Amethyst to see our Cuckoos. I think it’s time they met.” _

 

“Kirstin?” Charles’ worried voice rings out.

 

“The Cuckoos.” She whispers.

 

“Pardon?” 

 

“The Stepford Cuckoos,”  Kirstin says louder this time, the telltale purple smoke gathering around her hands as the room begins shaking. “These telepathic bitches work for Hydra.” Ezme’s eyes widen, but it’s her sister, Phoebe, who cries out.

 

“No, wait, please don’t hurt us.” The petite blonde takes a step back, terrified.

 

Charles grips Kirstin’s left shoulder, Erik grabbing her right. It was clear what each man was doing; Charles’ was attempting to soothe her, while Erik was holding her back. For the time being, anyway. “Give us one reason why I shouldn’t let Kirstin blast you to hell. In fact, it better be a good one, or I plan to use the metal pipes to tear each of you apart limb by limb.” Kirstin couldn’t figure out which threat scared the girls more.

 

The girls don’t speak, instead shoving all the information Kirstin needs at her mentally. The shaking of the room dies out slowly as she realizes what is going on. “They aren’t Hydra. They're loyal to one person, and one person only.”

 

“Emma Frost.” Charles finishes for her, turning to look at Erik, “Their mother.”

 

“And the Winter Soldier is their father.” Kirstin continues, noting they were blocking a piece of information and staring at the tense women. “Their not the first batch of children that were forced out of Emma, she had two older ones. They were twins; Celeste and Mindee. They used embryos made out of their DNA to create them; Phoebe, Sophie, and Ezme. They are essentially the genetic clones of their older sisters.”

 

“We aren’t the only clones they created,” Phoebe adds, moving around the other group carefully, to touch one of the cryogenic chambers; the one with the little redhead. “Syren was created from your friend, Cassidy’s, DNA. They used Celeste as a carrier. She has his abilities, and she was being kept in cryo until they needed her. That was before the raid, anyway. There are more, too.”

 

“We protected the chambers during the raid, to keep them from being taken by a corrupt SHIELD, or even punctured. If they were to be broken or disengaged incorrectly-” Sophie continues for her sister

 

“Bye, bye, Popsicle People,” Peter mutters quietly, examining the chambers.

 

“That’s why we used Natasha to bring you the file, Amethyst. It was a small fraction of the information we have in the base, and we figured you would realize that and come to see the base yourself.” Ezme adds sheepishly taking a step forward, Sophie opting to hang back.

 

“Don’t call me that.” Kirstin grinds out, moving to examine the chambers with Peter, “Let me guess. We set them free, you’ll give us any information we want to know?” She arches an eyebrow toward Phoebe, knowing they’d all see it.

 

“What’s to stop Emma from attacking us as soon as we let her out?” Charles demands, looking between Erik and the two girls in front of them.

 

“She was loyal to Magneto before she was taken. I’m sure she’d be more than willing to help you after you guys save her.” Sophie speaks up, watching them closely.

 

“You can save them right?” Phoebe’s face may not show her fear, but her mind is radiating it.

 

All of their eyes turn to Kirstin and Peter, who were examining the cryogenic chambers, “Of course.” Kirstin mutters quietly, “Hydra taught me when I was four. They assigned The Winter Soldier as my guard, and trainer until I was six. It was a just-in-case of an emergency situation, and your sisters hid the memories after he was reassigned, but all of them have slowly come back over the years.” She shrugs at the angered metallic manipulator across the room.

 

“That’s why they started using the chair, and the trigger words, for the Winter Soldier. They were more trustworthy to erase everything, while we’re kept around for precision cuts. We were the scalpels and the chair was the chainsaw.” Ezme laughs slightly at the comparison, moving to Kirstin’s laptop to check the downloads.

 

Kirstin, who was already working on the last chamber as the first three begin to defrost, pauses for a moment, “Yeah, I got that.” A few more moments and… “Done.”

 

“Who is the other chamber for?” Erik asks, taking a wary step toward the chambers.

 

“That’s one of the others we were talking about. The X-23 children.” One of the triplets begins, but Kirstin quickly shuts her down. The jumping between speakers was annoying her, despite them all having the same voice.

 

“They were another attempt at the program that Logan was in. The Weapon X project. They were taken over by Hydra, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker leading it by using DNA that was collected from William Stryker, and his own parents. The von Strucker twins; Andrea, and Andreas.”

 

“Which one was his parent?” Peter questions, looking between Kirstin and the Frost sisters for a few moments before the truth hit him, “Oh. Oh.  _ Oh. Gross. _ ” His face morphed into one of pure disgust.

 

“Yes, yes it is. Now, help me open the doors, they’re beginning to wake up. Waking up to a closed chamber can cause panic, and there isn’t enough air in there to let them panic without losing oxygen.” Charles and Erik quickly join them waiting until Kirstin’s say to unlock their separate doors. Sean falls into Charles when his door is released, a sound of disbelief leaving him.

 

“Professor?” The younger man asks dazedly. The Cuckoos were quick to run to their mother, all but shoving Peter out of the way to help her.

Kirstin helps the brunette girl out of the chamber letting her sit on the floor, Erik following suit with the other girl, Syren.

 

The small brunette seemed to be the only, non-dazed one. “Misión? Nueva misión?”  **(Mission? New mission?)** She sounded nearly terrified, though there was anger present in her facial features. The others looked slightly panicked.  _ Pulling people out of cryogenic stasis is cool,  but someone speaking a different language isn't?  _

 

“No, no hay una nueva misión. Tienes un nombre? Puedes hablar inglés?”  **(No, there is no new mission. Do you have a name? Can you speak English?)** Kirstin speaks quickly, helping the little girl stand.

 

“Yes. But Spanish is the one my last handler spoke. Are you my new handler?” Kirstin shakes her head.

 

“No. No, Kiddo. No more handlers. No more Hydra. Did they give you a name?” She speaks softly, so as not to disturb the friendly reunion between Erik, Charles, and Mr. Cassidy, or the familiar one close by.

 

“They called me X-23. Some would call me Wolverine 2.0, but I had no real name.” Charles and Kirstin share a look.

 

“Do you have any special abilities?” She nods, holding up her hand, before attempting to nudge the older girl back. She does as requested, standing up and taking a step back. Within a blink, two long blades protrude from her fist, sharp and definitely dangerous.

 

“Maybe we should take them to the Compound to get checked out. The Wakandan people have advanced technology, and they can check for any deterioration in the cells.” The men nod, while Peter awkwardly rubs the back of his neck, pulling Syren up onto his hip.

 

“I think we're going to need another car.”


	8. 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hand-wavy science ahead folks, btw.

“Hello. I'm Princess Shuri of Wakanda. Mr. Stark is busy helping Wanda at the moment, but I'm nearly positive I can do a better job.” Is the first thing Kirstin hears as she steps out of the elevator, X-23 clinging to her like a leach. She completely ignores the girl sitting in Ms. Kay’s, the receptionist’s, seat and walks through the hallway to Tony's lab. She hears the laugh from Shuri, followed by the soft, guilty though _ I am so going to get his receptionist fired. _

 

“Tones?” She steps in to see weird wires hooked to Wanda's head as she moves stuff around the room, the red glow making it obvious. At the sound of Kirstin's voice, a very important project she's been working on drops from mid-air. A quick flick of her wrist sends the project sitting carefully on the desk next to Pietro.

 

“Good Kirstin, you’re here. Check this out.”  He pulls up a picture, next to live footage of Wanda’s brain while using her abilities. She examines them for a moment.

 

“Nearly every part of the brain is lit up.’ She states dully, offering herself up as a sounding board.

 

“Exactly, telepathy uses nearly every part of the brain in it’s refined form, but is triggered most often by emotions,  _ and  _ you can still do it while concentrating on other things. It makes a man wonder how much brain power someone with both telepathy and telekinesis has.” The Stark gives her a smile, hoping she’d take the hint.

 

“I’m not your lab rat, Tony. You aren’t hooking me up to any machines. I do, however, need your help with something.” 

 

“Sure. You can take those off now Wanda, thank you for your cooperation. What do you need? New vibranium blades? New _ nanotech  _ blades? A recipe for banana bread?” Tony wanders around the lab as he speaks, cleaning up a bit and saving some files to his server. Ignoring him, Kirstin moves, plugging all the flash drives, and hooking her stark pad up to FRIDAY.

 

“FRI, would you be a dear and-” All of the files from each device appears holographically in front of her. Beginning to sort through her stuff, she sighs as X-23 watches the hologram with a blank stare, though her amazement was felt telepathically. “Also call Mason up. He’s Dr. Helen Cho’s intern. He’s taking a gap year but is starting Med school next year. He’s really good and really nice to everyone except me.” Kirstin explains, watching as Charles helps Sean sit down, Erik watches the two kids like a hawk, and the Stepford Cuckoos help to keep their mother standing. “Tell him to bring up the newest form of the Cradle, the one with Wakandan technology. I want scans on these four, and blood analysis too. Tony, could you-” He begins to sort through the data with her, easily getting lost in it when Mason enters the room, Cho, and a few others not far behind, the Cradle already being set up, along with a few hospital beds for the newest patients.

 

The Frost triplets come to stand next to Kirstin, watching as more files from the X-23 experiments were brought up. “Why call it the X-23 project if there aren’t a total of 23 kids?” Tony questions, as if pointing out the obvious.

 

Kirstin scans the first page of the report. “Because they were given twenty-embryos to do this with, and even less DNA, it seems. Four of them are half-siblings with the ability to manipulate plants, all born the same year. There are five with kinetic abilities; one with geokinesis, one with Pyrokinesis, a telekinetic, and one who is essentially a puppet master. He controls others by forcing them to mimic his movements. And a few oddballs. ” Tony zooms in on a map, tossing all the other files to the side.

 

“These are all the facilities they're being held in.”  Kirstin starts tapping the highlighted locations, scanning through them. There were three facilities the children were being held at, the rest were all hidden bases or secure hideouts. “FRIDAY, I need an Avengers call out. Tell them to be down here as soon as possible, suited up and ready for an attack on a Hydra base. Or a few, depending on how quickly we can get through them. Get ahold of T'Challa, send him the map of bases, leave out the one with the kids in them. You two,” He points at Erik and Charles. “You have anybody ready for combat, but good a quiet infiltration?”

 

Kirstin vocalizes for a second as the two agree, pulling out their separate phones. She grabs her phone off the desk, sending a quick text to the group chat consisting of Wade and Logan, carefully glancing at the girl getting her blood drawn from Mason. 

 

**_Kirstin: Hey, need some battle-ready nice guys. Probably no killing, but apparently some X-Men??_ **

 

**_Wade_ ** **🤬** **_: Ooh… X-Men/X-Force team-up! I'm in. Getting Colossus, NTW, and Domino. Maybe even Yukio!_ **

 

**_Logan: Just got the call out from Scott. They've already got three teams en route to the Avengers headquarters. See you soon, Kid._ **

 

Peter raises his hand slowly. “I'd like to be in one of the teams for helping the kids.” 

 

Tony instantly shoots him down. “No way. You're not mission-ready, Kid. Remember our agreement? Friendly neighborhood Spiderman.” 

 

Kirstin's head snaps up at that. “Actually, he needs to be on one of the teams if they're all in Cryostasis, Peter and I are the only two in the room who knows how to shut them down. Shuri!” Kirstin yells out as the girl enters the room. The African Princess jumps slightly, looking up from her phone, “Do you know how to shut down a Cryogenic Chamber?”

 

“Of course. What do you take me for? One of your brain dead soldiers?” Kirstin snorts at that, glancing towards Tony for a moment.

 

“Can you fight?” She adds on as her phone vibrates.

 

“I can hold my own.” The girl affirms.

 

**_Domino’s Pizza: Is this actually a mission or is Wade just bored?_ **

 

“Good. You're each going to help the X-Men units. Go in, get the children, get out. We'll send med teams with you also, the less strenuous activity the Cryoed people get, the better.” Kirstin explains, affirming to Domino that  _ yes, this is an actual mission, come to the compound.  _

 

“Also, if you can download all the information from the computers there using these,” Tony adds, tossing the three teenagers a bug set. “Attach them to the computers and they download to their individual docks. To pull them off, press the brown button they'll fly back to their connect areas.”

 

“Awesome,” Peter mutters quietly. The Cuckoos choose that moment to speak up in the creepy way they do.

 

“We’ll come too.” Phoebe begins, moving in sync with the other two.

 

“One in each rescue team.” Sophie continues.

 

“That way all of them will stay in contact.” Ezme finishes.

 

“Foolproof.” They all say at the same time.

 

“Freaky.” Tony glances between the three of them, turning to the others. “Do they always do that?”

 

“Infuriating isn't  it?” Kirstin and Erik respond at the same time, Kirstin confirming to Colossus that  _ yes, it is a mission, How many times has Wade called for a fake mission?  _ Erik was just being a dick like Erik does.

 

“Freaky,” Tony repeats watching those two for a few moments.

 

The elevator opens, revealing Logan, Colossus, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Domino, and a partially suited up Wade. “What the shit guys? I wouldn't have texted if it wasn't a mission.”

 

“Yes, you would have,” Logan states flatly, moving around the group of superhero outfitted people to stand next to Kirstin. He'd upgraded to his out-and-about attire, which consists of a flannel shirt over another wife-beater and jeans. So not much has changed. “I'm assuming I'm on your team?” 

 

Kirstin shrugs, moving around the Cuckoos, who curiously examine the man. “I don't know, ask your leaders. I don't control you.”

 

“Neither do they.” Was his response. Kirstin had met the man a while ago and had hit it off right away. The boys and Avery had been arrested for trying to kill the President (it's not what it sounds like. It was actually Lucifer using the President as his vessel.) and she ended up getting taken by the police and placed in a mutant-torturing mental asylum for a while as a Jane Doe. With some help from a mutant organization, she got out. She ended up unconscious in the woods after the fact, the people that got her out unable to find her, which is when she met Logan. He rescued her and the rest, as they say, was history.

 

_ She hears the person moving around her before she can register anything else. There's pressure on her head as he shifts closer to her still, ‘unconscious’ body, a pressure being applied to the top of her head. She has to repress a flinch at the surprisingly gentle act, whatever cold stuff that was on the surface of what the mutant assumes to be gauze. “I know you're awake.” A deep males voice declared, pressing carefully on the bandage to make sure the medical tape had stuck properly. “You're heart started beating faster and you stopped flinching, which you were doing in your sleep.” _

 

_ Purple eyes snap open to meet brown, the owner of the former feeling a lot more alert than the last time she was awake. “Enhanced senses.” _

 

_ “And these,” Three metal claws protrude from his knuckles in an unsaid warning;  _ You try to attack me, I butcher you.  _ “So, Jane, tell me how the hell you got nearly an hour away from the facility you were being held in while wearing no shoes and drugged into oblivion.” _

 

_ “I ran. Jane?” She questions, pushing her tired body up into a sitting position, letting her legs dangle off the couch, purposely ignoring the fact that she was no longer wearing the hospital-like scrubs and was instead wearing a woman's  _ Queen _ tee shirt, a too big male's flannel and some skinny jeans that were still kinda baggy on her. _

 

_ “You're the Jane Doe from the Mental Hospital the Mutant Underground just demolished. The only person not to have been accounted for. You claimed not to have known your own name.” _

 

_ “Kirstin.” She answers easily, standing on her tingly legs. Light glinting on something around her wrist earns an annoyed groan and understanding to wash over her. That would explain why the wounds hadn't healed yet. _

 

_ “Well, Kirstin, next time you run through the woods, you should try not to trip. Nearly brained yourself on a rock and reopened the wound on your wrists. Surprised you didn't bleed out.” He stands up, moving through the small house, disappearing around the corner. Kirstin lets her eyes scan over the room, noticing a toolbox in the corner. Rushing over quickly but quietly, she opens it finding the tool she was looking for. Well, one of the two she hoped to find; she would have preferred a hand saw but the hammer would do. She spins on her heels, placing her hand on the counter of the tiny area and bringing the hammer down on the locking mechanism of the cuff. Thump. Thump, thump. Thump. Tink. The cuff snaps open easily and she laughs at the surge of power through her.  _

 

_ Kirstin pulls the gauze off of her head and the newest wrap around her wrists. A bright smile shines on her face as she realizes that the wounds had already begun healing, sealing into a slightly red patch of skin on her forehead and a gross amount of scarring on her wrists. Crinkling her nose, she turns to the man, who had quickly entered the room during her hammering, “What's your name anyway?” She questions as she flops back onto the couch. _

 

_ “Logan.” He states gruffly, moving to the counter and throwing the cuff at her. “You gonna hang around here, your gonna pick up after yourself.” Kirstin nods, wondering how long she planned to stay. _

 

“One’s a telepath and the other controls metal, which your bones are coated in. Hate to break it to you,  _ Bub _ , but they can literally control you.” Kirstin grabs the handgun from where it’s tucked in the back of her jeans, checking the ammo along with a few other things before tucking it away again. She then pulls her double-bladed staff that separates in the middle, tucking them away into weapon holsters on the back. She also pulls out her inconspicuous looking hairpins. She twirls her hair into a bun, sliding them in an X formation to keep it up

 

“Is now a good time to be doing your hair?” Pietro wonders as Wanda, Clint, and him join them in the lab, quickly followed by a few people she recognizes, but never learned the names of. She knew they were from the X-mansion though, so that’s all that mattered.

 

“They’re blades,” Logan explains for her, turning to talk to the girl again. “If we go by that logic, Kirstin, you control me too.” He turns to look at Charles, “I’m workin’ with her Chuck. She could use someone who ain’t afraid to knock her down a few pegs, to make sure she keeps herself in check.”

 

“I’ll have you know, Mr. Blades-Come-Out-of-my-Hands-When-Angry, I am perfectly capable of keeping myself in check, and do  _ not  _ need a babysitter. Do with him what you want, Charles, I can take care of myself.” Kirstin smiles slightly as she speaks, despite the false sense of anger her words project. The room was quickly filling with suited up superheroes, each wandering to their designated teams and awaiting further instruction. 

 

Tony easily gets the Avengers out of the lab and into a Quinjet, with a simple threat to the X-men that if anything goes missing from his lab, he’s stealing his students to his own superhero school, blowing up the X-mansion, and charging Xavier with the bill. One of the more elaborate threats, but a threat nonetheless.

 

Charles and Erik argue among themselves about Charles coming with one of the teams, before Charles interrupts Erik mid-sentence, turning to face the X-men. And the X-force. And Kirstin, who wasn’t listening to a word they said.


	9. 7

Kirstin walks over to the Quinjet the team was taking to the facility, rolling her eyes as Ezme smiles at her. She turns to look at Logan, mouthing  _ ‘Shoot me’.  _ At him. He snorts, guiding her up the ramp with a surprisingly gentle hand on her back. A blonde man next to Hank McCoy’s beast form examines her for a moment before talking. “You’re a little young to be going on a mission, aren’t you? Does Xavier know you’re here, or are you another one of Logan’s stowaways?” 

 

“Xavier knows I’m here,” She skims the closest layer of his mind, not digging super deep, but enough to get his name. It’s almost like skimming the top layer of water in the pool. She continues without missing a beat, “Alex Summers. I’m the one that got you this information in the first place and the only one in this group that knows how to turn off the Cryogenic Chambers.” Rolling her eyes at the man’s impressed expression, she plops down next to a blue-skinned girl, and Logan, as the last passenger climbs onto the plane.  _ Avery.  _ With a single look at Logan, the man moves to the empty seat on the other side of Alex, Avery easily taking his place.

 

“Did you seriously think you’d go on a mission without me?” The blonde says a small slightly lopsided smile on her face.

 

“I was kind of hoping so, yeah. I mean, you’re in college now, you should be focusing on that. Tony needs one of us to take over SI at one point and considering I’ve threatened to strangle that board of snobby, misogynistic, old men, it’s probably best if you take that job. I’ll take the Avengers, you get the Stark Empire. Fair trade?”

 

“Not really.” She mutters as the plane takes off, clearly examining the others around them.  _ That’s Alex Summers?  _ _  Yep, in the flesh.  _ _ Think I should tell him? _ _ We should probably wait until after the life-threatening mission, Aves.  _ _ Think he knows about her?  _ _ I don’t know.  _ _ Read his mind! _ _ No! That’s an invasion of privacy!  _ _ So! _ _ So! So, no. I’m not reading his mind. _ Kirstin examines the way Alex and Hank were talking for a moment,  _ But if I had to guess. I’d probably say he does.  _ _ Why’s that?  _ _  Well, she was in foster care, right? Who would willingly raise a kid in a life where the place they live explodes every other week?  _ _ The mom could’ve been the one to give her up.  _ _ Or Summers could be a carrier.  _ Carriers were mutant men with the secondary mutation of a uterus. They began appearing back when there were very few mutants, though still develop today, probably due to the ratio of mutants to humans. For every twenty human babies born, there’s one mutant child. Some scientists think of it as an evolutionary survival tactic enacted by the X-gene, though that implies that the X-gene has a mind of its own. A theory based on this, though, says that under the stress of near-extinction, the carrier’s bodies adapt a uterus during puberty to keep the population from becoming nonexistent. Considering stress and puberty were two ways that powers are enacted, most people go with that option. 

 

_ One in four mutant men are carriers, so you can’t rule it out, Aves.  _ _ But that means he just gave her up. How can someone do that?  _ _ People do it all the time, Girlie. Sometimes because they don’t want the child, other times because they can afford it, and sometimes they do it because they know the kid will be better off. Honestly, if he did give her up, I think its quite an admiral feat.  _ _ Who’s to say he didn’t give her up just because he didn’t want her?  _ _ I saw him with his brother earlier. No one loves their family that much and decides they just don’t want their kid. If it was because of what I think it was because of, he’s an honorable man. He knew he couldn’t give her what she needed, so he gave her to a family who did.  _ _ I… That's fair, but why let them let her about him?  _ _ You’re kidding, right?  _ She shoots Avery a look that clearly states ‘are you stupid?’  _ In case she develops abilities, duh. _

 

“What’re you two talking about over there?” Logan questions randomly, seemingly trying to draw attention away from his and Wade’s relationship. Wade snorts from the other side of the plane, sticking his tongue out at Kirstin when she glares.

 

“Butt sex.” Was Kirstin’s sarcastic response. This earns a full out laugh from Wade.

 

“It's pronounced anal, and let me tell you; it is amazing. Its-” Wade begins, earning a yelp from Avery and a loud laugh from Kirstin, promptly cutting off the rest of his sentence

 

“Wade…” Her laughter cuts her off for a moment, “No… that was… you weren’t supposed to… No. Just no. I don’t need to hear about my grumpy old men friends’ sex lives.”

 

“Grumpy old men friends?” The blue-girl asks, laughter evident in her voice.

 

“Yeah. Logan’s like… nineteenth-century old, I think. I saw him in some of the war paintings and photos in my history textbooks. Wade’s like bordering fifty, though his healing factor won’t let him get that old. Clearly Logan’s grumpy… and honestly, no offense Wade, but you’re bordering on the crazy-psychotic line there, Buddy. But it’s weird to refer to them as my crazy friends, so there my grumpy old men friends.” Logan, Hank, and the blue girl were all gawking at me. Even Erik had a slight look of surprise on his normally blank face. “What?”

 

Logan leans forward for a second, laughing softly to himself, “So, how many of those wars was I in exactly?” 

 

“Most of the American ones actually. Civil War, World War One, World War Two and the Vietnam War. I don’t think I saw you anywhere else, though I know you were a part of the Howling Commandos. You were… James Howlett, that’s what Steve said anyway. Didn’t talk much, except to a guy who claimed to be your brother, smoked cigars, drank a lot. Adds up, when you think about it.” They continued to stare at her when it finally hit her. “You didn’t know that. Shit, my bad dude. Didn’t realize you didn’t know, figured you didn’t like to talk about it, and I didn’t want to go peeking around in there, especially after finding out you and Wade were together. That is one mental image I can live without.” The joke seemed to break up the tension in the plane, though not by much. 

 

Just as Logan went to speak, the plane began to land. Avery was quick to stand up, looking a mix between amused and uncomfortable. She pauses for a second, pulling her multicolored hair into a quick ponytail. “Let's go kick some Nazi ass.”

 

Kirstin pauses for a moment, “Are they still Nazi's? I mean their kinda a separate entity now, do we still call them Nazis or just terrorists?”

 

“I think that's the most I've heard someone say Nazi that wasn't in a history class.” Was Wade's intellectual comment, Logan snorting to himself. Erik glares back at them earning a middle-finger from Kirstin and Wade, a middle… claw from Logan, and a creeped out shiver from Ava-Mary.

 

They begin to walk off the plane, having to walk for a little bit before they reach the base, the Medics setting up the equipment for anybody who might need it, or the X-23 children. “So he's kinda terrifying.” She mutters softly, watching the man lead them through the path, the blue-woman right beside him.

 

Kirstin laughs slightly, “Not really. He's kinda just got his ‘ _ disobey me and I'll shoot you’ _ thing going on right now. He's nicer than he seems.” They walk another few minutes in silence when a Kirstin hears the ringing of a silent alarm with her heightened hearing and a slight rustle from above. With a quick twist, she pulls her gun, shooting a scout in the head, watching him drop out of the tree, dead.  The others quickly spin around, Logan's face quickly morphing to dread.

 

“Shit.”

 

“No kidding. You,” Kirstin points at the blue-girl as she searches the man for a communication device of some kind. Sure enough, there was a walky-talky on the man.

 

“Found the trigger,” Avery states, promptly crushing it with her foot.

 

The blue girl seemed to quickly catch on to what Kirstin wanted when she is handed the walky-talky. Morphing into the dead man, she looks around them. “What do I tell them?”

 

Kirstin evaluates the destroyed bits of the silent alarm trigger, “This could be set off by any number of animals wandering by. How many feet there are… how common are deer here?” She quietly mumbled to herself before standing up. “Tell them it was a family of deer. They came wandering through and triggered the silent alarm.”

 

She repeats the information to the walky-talky, and they sat in silence for a few tense moments. Alex, Avery, and Erik looked ready to run toward the base, while the blue girl and Hank looked ready to run back the way we came. “Copy that agent. We're shutting them off now.” 

 

“Come on,” Logan states, turning to continue walking as the alarm is turned off. Ezme looks at the young girl, impressed. Everybody begins to walk again, the blue girl,  _ Raven _ , morphing back into herself.

 

The blonde girl starts walking in step with Kirstin and Avery. “Didn't even have to use telepathy. I'm impressed.”

 

Kirstin sends a sharp glare her way, Avery snickering under her breath as she notes the similarities between Erik's and her glares. “Not everyone depends on their abilities to get shit done.” She moves up toward the front of the group as they reach the facility. Logan smirks at her in the way that only he can get away with.

 

“You ready for this, Amethyst?” She glares wickedly his way.

 

“Don't call me that. I will cut your eyes out with my knife and feed them to you.” She lets her hands light up, breaking the security cameras with a flick of her wrist, wincing as they go from slightly snapped to a wad of electronics.

 

They move quickly, tucking around a few corners as they search, barely avoiding a few guards here and there. There were still very many people compared to the last base. After getting the bugs  Kirstin sticks her hand out for the phone she stuffed in Logan’s pocket before getting on the plane. He places it in her hand as he listens carefully to the building around them. 

 

Kirstin works quickly, bypassing most security measures in little time, only the last few slowing her down. When she got in, she set up video loops on the last few cameras left working, hoping they wouldn’t notice that for a while. She quickly locates the cryo-room, showing the feed to the others. There were seven chambers being guarded by a large number of Hydra soldiers. “Ready to blow this popsicle stand? The second we get in that room, it’s bye-bye incognito mode. I’d say we have ten minutes to takes them out before one calls for backup, probably less. We take them out and get those kids, we’re scotch free.” Alex’s face scrunches up for a moment, looking annoyed.

 

“Except we still got to get back out. Through who knows how many guards.” Avery turns to look at Kirstin.

 

“You didn’t tell them?”

 

Kirstin shrugs, “Didn’t have a reason to. Let’s go.” They sprint to the door they needed to get to, not even pausing before bursting in. An oddly organized chaos erupts as the group battle the Hydra guards.

 

The fight begins with all the guns flying out of the guards' hands, crumbling into little metallic spheres and shooting through a few of the guards' chests. A plasma beam shoots from each of Alex's hands, taking out two more guards before Kirstin engages in a fight, easily taking two guards out by plunging one end of her spear into one's chest, jamming the other one back into the other, and the wall, promptly getting it stuck.

 

Using that to her advantage, she pushes off of it, wrapping her legs around a guard's neck, her momentum, easily propelling her around. She locks her thighs, snapping the man's neck in the process before dropping to the ground and kicking another's legs out from under him. She unhooks one side of the staff, driving the unstuck blade into the woman's chest. With a hard yank, the other blade comes unstuck too.

 

A red plasma whip flies in her direction, wrapping around another guard's neck, so Kirstin plunges both the blades through their body with a sickening squelch. She quickly pulls her blades out, only for them to quickly get knocked away by two new guards, skidding across the ground. She punches the man with all her strength, earning a sickening snap in his chest/lung area, kicking the woman squarely in the chest, ducking as the man moves to hit her.  _ Hairpins _ .

 

She pulls a blade out of the hairpin sheath, jabbing it straight through the man’s trachea, listening to him start to gurgle on his own blood as she engages in combat with the woman. She knocks her to the ground three times, but she got up all three times and kept going. It's because of this that Kirstin reverts to Plan B. Summoning her telekinesis, she wraps it around every guard, sending them flying and hitting the wall. Well, she planned for them to hit the wall, except they ended up morphing  _ into _ the wall, their faces trapped in silent screams, arms sticking out at odd angles. Everybody spins to face the girl, most looking terrified, except three people. Avery and Logan wore pity plain as day, knowing she didn't mean to give them such a cruel end. Erik, however, seemed almost fascinated by what she just did, not that it showed in anything except his eyes.

 

Kirstin's hand covers her mouth, pure terror at what she just did sinking in. The staring continued, so she shakily dropped her hand, “I… I didn't mean to…”

 

Alex was actually the one to stop her apology, much to her disbelief. “It's okay. Some powers are harder to control than others. Let's just get these kids out of here and somewhere safe.” She nods slowly, moving to work on one of them, directing the others what to do. They quickly open the chambers, gathering the children when something caught Kirstin's eye. She carefully wanders over to the wall she’d thrown the guards into. 

 

“Kirstin.” Logan begins as he notices where she's at. She holds up a hand to him, running the other along the slight crack in the metal wall. Turning to Magneto, she nods toward the wall. With a harsh shove through the air by him, the wall slides open, crushing some of the men as it slides open. Stepping in carefully, the girl goes about examining the area, noticing two empty chambers. She hooks up the two bugs to the computer there, waiting the few moments it took to download before returning them to their place and opening the files.

 

Scanning the first page, her eyes grow wide in horror. She turns bolting out of the room, to find Raven and Avery attempting to comfort the scared children. She sent out a rush of  _ calm _ to them, showing the file to Magneto. He reads if quickly, eyes flying up to look at the young girl. “Gather up the children. We need to move them.  _ Now _ .”

 

They do as he asked, Logan and Avery directing the children to hold hands, which seemed to confuse the others. Kirstin quickly joins them as Avery and Logan finish off the circle, Ezme in the middle, reading what they needed to do. “I'll try to get you guys as close as possible, then I'll come back for these guys. Try to focus on the plane, it helps me to focus on it when multiple minds are doing it too.” The two adults do as asked, closing their eyes in the process. In a flash of purple light and the sound of fluttering, they were gone, only for Kirstin to reappear a second later.

 

Of course, by then it was too late. “Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in.” A man that appears to be in his mid-thirties comments, clicking his tongue slightly. Kirstin glanced around them looking for the fastest route out, or at least to block them.

 

“A bunch of phonies and fakes. Claim to be mutant and proud, but won't do what needs to be done to get there.” The terrorist woman says from next to her brother. That earns a snort out of Kirstin.

 

“Please, you're so fake,  _ Barbie _ would be jealous.” Her glance flickers around the room, watching her friends closely. “And what exactly  _ is  _ it that needs to be done? Blowing up buildings full of innocent people and fucking your brother like you're from ancient Egypt? Because I like to think we're a little more evolved in the modern days.” The woman shoots her an icy glare, which earns nothing more than a cheeky smile from the girl.

 

“It's destroying the human race once in for all.” She looks over to Magneto, a sad smile on her face, “You used to believe in that. We were a team at one point.”

 

“We were never a team, Andrea. You worked for the Hellfire Club. I was never a willing participant in your games. And at one point, I would've believed you. But I watched a group of human heroes save humans and mutants alike from an alien invasion, and a genocidal robot. Things changed. Mutants have rights now, the same as humans. That's all we ever wanted, isn't it? To not have to hide?”  Kirstin glances over at the man, never truly realizing how much his ideals had changed from when he was a mutant terrorist.

 

The man laughs softly, “Oh, how far the great Magneto has fallen! You used to believe the same thing!”

 

“Only because it was ingrained into my head by a genocidal maniac who would torture me on a daily basis!” Magneto roared out, earning a flinch from the teenage girl next to him. That seemed to dry up his anger real quick.

 

“We both know if it wasn't for that telepathic man-whore you'd still be on our side.” The woman begins floating, choking as if someone was strangling her. Everybody's eyes flickered to Erik, over to realize that there was no metal near her. Kirstin's purple eyes were dark with anger.

 

“You're one to talk aren't you? I mean what's sluttier than fucking your own brother?” The man next to her growls darkly, using his powers to send her flying backward. Andrea drops to the ground as Kirstin smacks her head against the wall, hitting the ground with a thump. Before the girl could even think about reacting, one of her blades went flying toward the man. A shield flies up instantly, causing the blades to fly back.

 

Kirstin heaves a sigh as the world blurs together momentarily, everything fuzzy. She could hear them talking, but without her senses in check, it sounded like they were screaming louder than physically possible. She lets her hands slide out, feeling her blades slide into her hands without any prompting thought. She tucks them away, knowing they wouldn't be of use until her healing fixed her head.  _ At least I'm not unconscious.  _ She tries to stand up, but couldn't get her legs to move.  _ Mostly. _

 

Every sense came snapping back at once, and it took a second to correct it. Her enhanced vision was focusing on the small particles like the dust in the air, or the water droplets from where the children were defrosted from. After a few blinks, it seemed to focus on the less detailed stuff, like the fact that room was starting to glow gold, and that Erik was over her trying to get her to focus.  His voice was too loud, and it would be no matter if he was whispering, or screaming. Until her hearing focused in, everything would sound like white noise. 

 

She knew his hand was hitting her face, she could see it happening, but couldn't tell if it was a light tapping or a harsh slap, because both would feel the same with her overly sensitive skin. She could feel the dust brushing her skin, and the air molecules charging around them. She felt the brains around her without actually having the ability to connect.  _ No. No floating. Kirstin! Focus. _ She was beginning to panic, which only sent her surging farther into the blissful state, despite her protests. The charge of the molecules was getting stronger, felt like pure agony on her skin as they were simultaneously pulled apart and pushed together.

 

She felt a mind connect to her's a small voice appearing as her own thoughts begin to shut down at the floating sensation in her head, her eyesight focusing and unfocusing repetitively. It seemed to push her slightly out of the state, but not enough to make any progress.  _ Kirstin?  _ _ Charles? Charles, Fenris! Fenris is here, I-I can't move I-  _ _ Calm your mind, Child. Panicking is only pushing you further into the episode, focus on what's around you, focus on you're telekinesis.  _ She does ad he says focusing on the ability, the floating sensation dimming  _ Unleash it.  _ _ What? Are you insane? Charles, I just killed ten men with a simple flick of my wrist.  _ _ Trust in your power, Kirstin. Blocking it will not help you. We learned this the hard way. Don't  make the same mistake. Have faith in your abilities, and they will surprise you. Unleash your power.  _

 

Kirstin lets out a shaky breath, much to the relief of her mentors. The world came crashing down on her as everything came snapping into place, quite literally. She releases the force she had been using to keep her telekinesis held back, letting out a cry as the golden blast erupted, the building collapsing around them. 

 

Everybody in the room ducks down, expecting the building to collapse on top of them. The Fenris twins were long gone, having forced a lockdown on the building when Kirstin was floating. They had been using their abilities from outside the base, destroying the building on top of their enemies. 

 

The others slowly look around confused as to why they weren't crushed. A purple glow was floating above them, a telekinetic shield holding the entire building above them up, even though it was clearly destroyed. Kirstin’s breathing was shaky, though she was trying to squirm her way out of Hank trying to check her over. “I'm fine- I'm okay, we need to get out of here. I don't know how long until the building collapses around us.” She stands on equally shaking legs, blinking hazily for a few moments.

 

“You could have a concussion, Kirstin. You can barely stand, you're not okay.” He went to go check her eyes, but she smacked his hand away, shaking her head softly.

 

“No... No, I was just floating guys.” Hank lets out an annoyed noise.

 

“That's exactly why I need to check you out, Kirstin. Because you weren't ‘floating’ or-” Kirstin lets out a hollow laugh, brushing a piece of purple hair away from her sweat-soaked cheek with her glowing, smoky hands.

 

“No. Floating it… Sorry, I forgot I wasn't with our normal group. Floating it's… hard to explain. wow-” Wade cuts in, causing Kirstin to jump. He'd been uncharacteristically quiet this whole time, even when in the middle of the fight. Probably because the X-Men make him tense. Or because he doesn't want to be on Erik's bad side.

 

“Floating is what her friends and family call a telepathic episode, especially to strangers, or anti-mutant coworkers. It's when she gets lost in the feel of the minds around her. Don't worry, she doesn't read your mind when it happens… it's like… really hard to explain, yeah.” Kirstin kind slumps to the ground, slightly dazed.

 

“They surf on the waves coming from your brain, rather than the actual thoughts themselves. Charles would experience them all the time as a child.” Raven continues for them.

 

Erik seems to realize that they were having a conversation, as he blinks hazily a few times, turning to look at Raven. “Yes, David, Jean, and Wanda did that a lot as children. It's almost as though they're coming off of drugs when it wears off.”

 

“Like ecstasy drugs, or cocaine drugs?” Wade questions, earning confused stares. “Ecstacy makes you feel like you hate life, and want to die, while cocaine is kinda like a hangover. An itchy, itchy hangover.” 

 

“Of course, you would know the difference, Wade,” Kirstin says dazedly. Despite her state of mind, the telekinetic shield stays sound. Erik continues to stare at her, even as he speaks to the others, his protective feelings for his student heightened to the extreme every time he notices a trait that reminds him of Charles or his children. It skyrockets when he notices a recognizable look in her eyes, one that he had in his since Shaw killed his mother. Anger, pain, grief. Not to mention when he can't read anything at all off of her. She had the look perfected, probably from the years with Hydra.

 

“Charles is sending someone in as soon as they get close enough to the facility. He's checked in with Ezme, all of the children are safe, and Fenris didn't head their way. The other's missions went off without a hitch. Though, they have a few older kids with them too. I guess they were the first attempts at genetic cloning. Hey, Kirstin?”

 

“Hmm?” She says hazily, leaning against the barrier she created.

 

“Do you think you can hold this up for a little longer?” He says it softly, a tone Raven had only seen him use with his children, on a few occasions, Charles. It was gentle like he didn't want them to break. Charles hated it when Erik would speak to him like that, he found it demeaning to use voices meant for children to sooth other adults.

 

“Yeah. Yeah, it isn't even that hard I was… I was just holding back. That's why I was having issues with control.” She seems mind blown by her own comment, before pinching the bridge of her nose. “Yay. The episode is starting to wear off. Good, that shit sucks. Sorry if I scared you guys, my heightened senses tend to lose a bit of their refinement when I hit my head. And the disconnected feeling that came with that pushed me into an episode, which caused me to panic, which pushed me further into the episode. Sorry.” Kirstin pinches tighter, squeezing her eyes shut. Wade wanders around the edge of the telepathic wall, poking it a few times, yelping each time he did. He stopped for a second, glaring at the wall, before pulling out his blade and poking if with that. Another yelp and he dropped his sword.

 

He spins, sighing, “God this is boring. I wonder what the rest of the team is doing.” Kirstin laughs slightly at his antics.

 

“Panicking mostly. The people they called in just arrived and everyone except Charles and the Cuckoos are panicking.” She looks over at Erik. “Charles is showing someone named Blink where we're at through your eyes, so she can open a portal in here. A girl named Lorna seems pissed-” Erik lets out a light laugh- “a man named Marcos is trying to calm her down. Uh, Logan is kinda attacking a tree at the moment, and Scott is… yeah, maybe getting in their heads was a bad idea. Let's just say they're all a little freaked.” Kirstin pauses for a minute, hearing Charles speak to Erik.

 

“She can’t get in. Neither can Kurt. Even the child Tony sent, Jack, can't get in. Charles thinks it's because of the field.” 

 

“But if the field comes down, we all die anyway. Well, you do. I'll just be stuck down here until they find us. Kirstin too. Wait…” Wade turns to point at Kirstin.

 

“I can try.” She closes her eyes as everyone grabs hands. Squeezing her eyes closed, she focused on moving out of here, but something blocks her. Trying again, nothing happens. “I can’t…” That's when she notices what room they're in. The hidden one that Fenris was stored in. “Shit. Did they blast us into the other room?”

 

“That's where they sent you when Andreas attacked you. Erik went to check on you, so they blasted the rest of us in here, before initiating lockdown mode. Which, apparently, only activates in this room. Why?” Alex's voice was clearly bitter, and she couldn't help but agree with him.

 

“Because it has warding. Powerful warding. Like…” She traces her hand over one of the exam tables in the room, something twinging in the back of her mind.

 

“You were here before.” Erik supplies for her, glancing towards a confused Raven.

 

“So we're trapped down here?” She yells, turning and kicking the force field, yelping slightly as the sting travels up her leg. “Great.

 

Kirstin pauses for a second, glancing up at the top of the field, “I have an idea. I can't teleport, but clearly, my other powers are working. They do have wards specifically for teleporting, so it's possible. How many feet of rubble, would you say, is above us?”

 

“Twenty, fifty? It's hard to tell, we came in at ground level and went down, not up. There had to have been at least a few stories above the main floor, and we're down on the thirteenth underground.” Hank estimates, confusion clear on his face. Kirstin nods, reaching up and pressing her hand to the force field. Her eyes flutter closed as she attempts to concentrate, their eyes on her the whole time. 

 

_ Unleash your power.  _ She hears Charles’ voice in her mind, though she knows he can't reach her now that her episode is over. Pressing slightly harder, she focuses on what she wants to see. 

 

Above ground, Lorna was beginning to panic. Her dad had called in the Mutant Underground, more specifically Blink, to help with the situation; though clearly, they weren't much help. Even if they did have some sort of force field protecting them, who's to say they still have oxygen down there? Is her father dead and her dad doesn't have the heart to admit it?  _ That's what's happening with Cassie.  _ She thinks bitterly, a twinge of pain in her chest at the thought. They weren't allowed to bring her up around David, so that meant they never really had a chance to talk about what happened, after the initial kidnapping. Now, Dad had this insane belief that they found her and that, even if it was truly her, she'd want anything to do with the runners of the X-Men, who would happen to be her Father and Dad, the leader of the Mutant Underground, her sister and her brother-in-law, or someone who is often referred to as World Killer as a brother, not to mention a sister with the Phoenix Force.

 

Speaking of the two, they wanted to use their telekinesis to move the debris, but (as Logan so helpfully pointed out.  _ As fun of a family friend as he is, the dude is kind of an ass sometimes _ ) they could end up causing whatever is keeping them alive down there to collapse. No matter how much they manipulate things, there is no way to lift everything, not even with the Phoenix Force. Not that Jean should even  _ attempt  _ tapping into it anywhere that isn't safely prepared; she was training, but she still had a lot of work to do.

 

The debris seems to rumble for a second, before promptly starting to cave in. Lorna heard a cry pierce the air, and it took her a long time to realize it was hers. She moves to run to the collapsed base, but Marcos holds her back, pulling her to his chest as she gapes at the site.  _ No, no, no, no, no, no, NO. They can be dead, there is no way… Goddammit, no!  _ Just as she was beginning to believe that,  _ yes, it really did collapse on top of them, and no this is not a nightmare,  _ she noticed the purple dust in the air.

 

“The fuck?” Logan states, speaking exactly what the girl was thinking.  _ The debris _ . They weren't collapsing, they were  _ turning to dust.  _

 

They turn to look at David, only for him to shake his head, “I can do small things, but not anything this scale. A few walls, sure, maybe even a one-story house, two if I try hard enough. Nearly an entire  _ goddamned _ Hydra base? No way. Besides, my powers don't manifest in any colors, it's like a clear film.” Their Dad smiles brightly towards the base.

 

“Kirstin.” Then he lets out a nearly surprised laugh. The dust stops slowly, only a few pieces of rubble left, though it looked like the last layer that was in any danger of falling was already gone. There was a slight creaking sound for a moment before they heard an echoed laugh, like the way someone who had just been told they won the lottery would probably laugh. Disbelief and surprise. The young-sounding boy in the spider costume was quick to head over there, shooting a web out of his wrist, easily attaching it to the place he was standing next to.

 

After a few moments they begin to see everyone slowly appearing at the top; Wade Wilson, Alex Summers, Hank McCoy, Erik Lehnsherr, and finally a weirdly familiar purple-haired teenager, who looked dead on her feet. Now that she finally saw the girl her Dad had begun to believe is his assumed-dead daughter, she understood why he did. Not only did the girl have purple hair and eyes, Lorna actually thought they kinda looked alike, though the younger girl looks like she could use a few good meals. Lorna puts the thoughts aside, moving to hug her father, whom she hadn't seen since she took over the Mutant Underground work across the world.

 


	10. 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings ahead: Mentions of sexual assault

Kirstin scrubs at her arms harshly, trying to scrub off the nonexistent dirt. This was her third shower since she got back to the Compound after the mission a few hours ago. The kids were in the Med Bay, ordered by the numbers assigned by Hydra. The Medics were going through each one carefully, running every test to make sure they're okay, and letting them pick from a list of names they'd originally created for X-23, (who is now referring to herself as Laura Howlett, because Logan is, in fact, a DNA contribution, whether it was in a test tube or not. Also Tony is apparently going to give the kids the last names of the Avengers, and X-Men. To make it easier to get them fake birth certificates and adoption records and plant them in the system, from different states, of course.) now with another list of boy's names.

 

She hadn't been able to wash the dirty feeling off of her skin, despite the number of showers she'd taken. Finally giving up on scrubbing off the nonexistent dirt, she rises off, deciding she was just going to soak in the tub. She felt bad about wasting so much water on a dirty feeling she  _ knew  _ wouldn't go away with simple soap and water, but she also knew that the longer she stayed in here, the less likely it was for any of the X-men to question her about what happened with her and Hydra. And probably why the hell everyone keeps calling her Amethyst.

 

Sinking into the purposely freezing bathwater, she disappears under the surface, a twinge in the back of her brain surging through her.

 

_ The child screams, the water filling her lungs again. They heal as quickly as they're damaged, but the agony is unbearable. The five-year-old fights harder, the metal tub she was chained to giving a large creak as though it might snap, so she pulls with newfound energy. It doesn't budge. She doesn't know how long they've had her chained down under the water, but she knows that it felt like an eternity. They've done everything they could think of to kill her while she was in here though. Stabbed her, choked her, broke her neck, even electrocuted her to the point that they could smell her burning flesh. _

 

_ “She's still alive?” She hears over the water clogging her ears, and the bubbles her futile attempts at breathing make. “After all this time under?” There were quieter murmurs, ones she couldn't make out, meaning the man was closer than the others normally get. “Excellent. I'll let Wolfgang know that they can perform the experiment with slim risks to our patient.” She feels a hand run down her cheek, an uncomfortable feeling after years of only being touched when she was being punished or trained. And there were a few times that the Winter Soldier attempted to comfort her, a slight American accent clear in his voice. Those were the times he was put in the chair again, after being whipped, or other punishments she was sure were never done to her. _

 

_ There were also the times when they'd send women or men (who she'd eventually picked up were called Carriers) in there with no clothing. The Soldier would be given the programming first, and she learned that after the first time it happened not to go near him again, the marks from the beating lasted a week and the scars the metal left were a permanent reminder.  _

 

_ There was a flash of large hands on her hips, an aching pain and awful grunts. Breath in her face and soft words whispered in her ear. Dark hair in her face and- _

Kirstin shoots out from under the water scrambling out of the tub, slipping and smashing her head against the toilet as she went. The memories kept coming, some of them the torture in the metal tub, some of when the Soldier would try to fight his programming, the sick feeling of pain between her legs and soft grunts of a man extremely large compared to her tiny kid body, and a few snippets of tears streaming down many different  Breeder's faces as they stared at the girl. The commotion must've been heard by someone in her room because she barely had a chance to pull a towel over herself when Erik burst into the bathroom. 

 

Making sure she was completely covered (or at least that he couldn't see any of her… womanly parts), she doesn't bother looking at the man, knowing there were tears streaming down her face despite the blank look she was giving him, “Is there something you need?” He glances over at the tub noticing the blood-tinted water at the same time she realizes she had dug her nail into her hips and thighs hard enough to draw blood during the memories.

 

Erik swallows, looking very concerned and uncomfortable, before turning and marching out of the room without a word, earning a sigh of relief from the girl, who could still feel the phantom pains of the memories, as if she was reliving it all over again. The relief quickly vanishes when Wanda and a green-haired girl entered the bathroom glancing at the wet, though clearly tear-stained cheeks of the girl. Wanda quickly scanned the girl's projections to see what happened, and instantly recoiled at what she saw, another wave of horror rushing over her.

 

The feedback loop of the images between the two telepaths caused Kirstin to scramble for the bathtub, knowing she wouldn't get the toilet lid up in enough time and promptly throwing up for the second time in her entire life. She'd only just remembered the first, it happened after the first run-in with the Soldier who was programmed to breed anything he was given until the programming wore off. The Breeders would show up a day after the programming was on, giving the Soldier time to sink fully into the mindset they needed, and stayed for three days of continuous- she cuts the thought off, heaving into the toilet. She didn't want to think about it, her mind jumping to the awful pain, the blurry man above her, the male grunts and moans leaving his throat. God, she really hoped that it wasn't the Soldier.

 

Lorna moves toward the girl after she was sure she was done getting sick. She quickly used her abilities to pull the metal stopper, allowing the water mixed with bodily fluids to begin draining. She grabs more towels from the rack across the room, replacing the blood-covered one with a clean towel, and moving to place a damp one over her blood-covered lower body. Kirstin grabbed her wrist, fear sparking in her body despite herself. “Hey, it's okay. I'm just trying to clean up the blood. Do you want to try to do it, if you don't want me to?” Kirstin quickly grabs the towel from her quickly wiping the blood off of her body, scrubbing a little too hard.

 

She throws the bloody towels across the room, not particularly caring where they landed if it meant she could lock herself in the room, away from a horrified Wanda, and an overly concerned Lorna-  _ did I read her without meaning to, or did she give me her name?  _ Standing on shaky legs, she wraps the towel around herself, marching into the room and directly to her dresser. She pulls on undergarments first, yanking the biggest shirt with long sleeves she had and a pair of ripped up jeans, wincing slightly at the obviously just healed marks can be seen from a tear just above her knee. Next, she pulls on her socks and shoes, ignoring both girls’ concerned questions and commentary, grabbing her phone and nearly running out of the room.

 

She gets the elevator door closed in enough time to miss Wanda and Lorna, but not the resident speedster. He leans against the wall on the other side of the large elevator. “I saw my father walk out of your room looking like he'd saw a ghost.” He seemed more amused than concerned, meaning he didn't notice the fact that she forgot to clean to blood out from her nails. “What'd you do? What did you do?” He repeats the question in his heavily accented voice, moving to poke her side the way he did when she would visit him at the rehabilitation facility they sent him to, to heal properly. She quickly smacks his hand away, a sick look on her face.

 

“Please don't touch me, Pietro.” It's also the first time she'd called him his name since they had become friends. It was usually Speedy, Zoom, Sleeping Beauty, or the Roadrunner, maybe a few profanities here and there, but he hadn't heard his actual name leave her lips since the Sokovian Battle. He instantly backs off, throwing the elevator into an awkward silence.

 

Kirstin bolts for the door the first chance she gets, quickly deciding that she was just going to walk around the Compound a few times when she caught sight of Ryder leaning against the wall, a few bottles from Tony's liquor cabinet, (which Tony hasn't actually touched since he decided to stop drinking. It was a month after he and Steve had gotten together, and their two year anniversary was just around the corner.) meaning that it was the best money could buy. Just because Tony had quit drinking, doesn't mean the rest of the Avengers had, so he still keeps it well-stocked, despite the fact that it just makes it easier for him to fall off the wagon. Kirstin walked up, grabbing the first bottle she could get a hold of, popping it open and downing as much as she could in one gulp.

 

She recoils at the burn, nearly spitting the huge gulp she just took onto the cement. Maybe she should've started off slower, considering this is the first time she's ever drank anything more than a sip of Wade’s beer to wash down a gross piece of fish that one time. Even though the Winchesters spend most of their time in bars, she always gets club soda, Pepsi, or water.

 

Ryder laughs at her gagging noise, taking a long swig of the bottle he had before saying anything. “Stick around long enough, that's not the only thing you'll be gagging on.” She flinches at the comment and the smirk drops from his face instantly, “Sorry. It was just a joke, Girlie. Wouldn't actually do it.”

 

“Because I'm Avery's sister?” Even though she wanted to change the topic, she was honestly curious about what brought the change in attitude.

 

“Because you're not legal, from what I've heard. That, and I'm not that type of guy. I just act like it. I mean, I've made my way around the block a few times, I  _ did  _ have a girlfriend- and a boyfriend- in high school after all, but I'm not like that.” The blonde tries to explain, without actually having to say what ‘ _ like that’  _ means.

 

“So why act like it? What's the point of acting as you sleep around all the time if you don't?” She takes another swig from the bottle, keeping a large amount of distance between him and her.

 

He laughs, “I do have a few one-night stands here and there, but yeah, I guess that’s pretty accurate. Uh… for one, no one expects me to settle down, which is a great reason to act that way, in my family. For two, it means that my sister won’t do it, because she wants to make sure both of us don’t turn out like I did. Pretty smart, huh?” The blonde taps the mouth of his bottle to hers,  having to lean over to do so.

 

“I guess. Whatever, I’m not here for the conversation. Just the drinks.” That earns a choked laugh from him.

 

“Amen there, Runt.” 


	11. 9

_ Six months later _

 

Kirstin snorts at the drunk girls’ antics, Sabrina, Jordan, Avery, and their friends dancing around like dorks while Kesha plays in the background. Ryder sits next to the black-haired girl, an arm thrown over her shoulder, which nowadays only caused a momentary feeling of dread that was gone in an instant. She’d died her hair back to black after moving back into the Compound during the week. She spent her weekends working with Charles and his children, though Lorna only stayed for a month, and spent most of her time giving the girl concerned looks. “Do you think Jordan should bring Sabrina as her date? In her natural form?” Ryder questions, talking relatively loud to be heard over the music.

 

Sabrina was one of the few mutants attending normal school in the state of New York, as most opted to do online schools, or stay at the X-Mansion and take classes there. The mutant’s rights laws had been passed, but there were quite a few racist teachers at NYU, so the place was often the least likely place to find visible mutants. Unless they’re like Sabrina. 

 

Sabrina Hart was a mutant with abilities similar to Raven, with only a few small differences; if she touches the person, she can copy them down to the last molecule and has almost fooled Kirstin a few times with how she copies the person’s brain structure. She had blue skin like the older woman, though Sabrina didn’t have scales. She had stark white hair and completely white eyes. The Stark sisters had first met the girl when she asked Tony for help to create some clothing that shifts with her because, since she doesn’t have scales as Mystique does, her entire body is on display in her natural form and she hates it that way. She could make clothes appear on her person, but if she’s scared or startled, she’d flicker back to her blue form and flash everyone. So, Tony had Kirstin help create a polymer that has a similar structure to the girl’s DNA, and had Avery create the outfits out of the fabric. The thick, leathery fabric. They made it stretchy too, by using the design from the Hulk’s pants as a base, so that it shifts when her body does, and still made it easy to fight if needed.

 

They’d made her nearly thirty of them, in case she ever got behind in laundry and created designs for every season.  They became fast friends during the experience and the constant delivering of clothing gave them a chance to meet her twin sister, Maya, and even create some clothing for her, though hers would definitely be considered an upgrade. Since she didn’t need as much give as Sabrina did, (her ability was invisibility) and only really needed the clothing to camouflage with her, it was a lot easier to make normal fitting and looking clothing. They actually didn’t have a choice with Maya, she couldn’t make it look as though she was wearing different clothes like her sister did. That friendship quickly spiraled into constantly meeting with their friend group all throughout high school, and now apparently college too. “What, you think they would freak?” Zay questions, shooting a snake-eyed glance at the normal-looking man.

 

Isaiah ‘Zay’ Babineaux was another one of the mutants brave enough to attend NYU, even braver in the fact that he couldn’t hide what he looked like behind a ‘normal’ human outfit and pretty makeup. He had tattoo-like birthmarks under his eyes and spiraling up his arms in the design of vines, along with snake eyes that were impossible to hide, even with contacts. Considering his abilities were controlling animals and plant manipulation, at least his visible mutation was fitting. He had moved from Texas, a place with very harsh anti-mutant beliefs despite the laws, after being expelled from his school there. His mom got a new job opportunity here, so they packed up their things, and here they were nearly seven school years later.

 

Lucas, his human best friend, laughs softly, “I doubt it. I met his Uncle Magnus, he didn’t seem to mind mutants.”

 

“That’s because he’s a warlock, Cow Boy. It’d be hypocritical for him to judge them. And ‘Brina can't, she's seeing her girlfriend off tomorrow. Its summer, remember? The Hunters have to go back to Kansas.” Maya adds, flopping onto the couch next to her friend's boyfriend, sweaty from all the dancing. That was another thing about the group, they all had the Sight. That’s how Ryder and Jordan became friends with them; they were Shadowhunters at a Mundane school.

 

Jordan laughs next joining them by sitting on the arm of the couch next to her older brother, the seventeen-year-old rolling her eyes as she speaks, “Yeah, the younger generations of our family are accepting, but our adoptive grandparents? Nightmares.” 

 

“Maryse, our grandmother, has a mutant-phobia. In the sense that they terrify her because they’re wild cards. They could be allies or enemies and you have no way of truly stopping the powerful ones. I swear, I think it keeps her up at night.” Ryder adds, flicking his younger sister’s ear.

 

“And Robert, our grandfather-”

 

“The cheating prick,” Ryder mutters under his breath, interrupting the red-head.

 

“- he’s anti-mutant, anti-Downworlder, slightly homophobic, and, as my big brother helpfully stated, is a prick. You should take Kirstin with you, Ry. If there’s one thing that the Lightwood parents hate-”

 

“It’s Hunters.” They state at the same time, Ryder turning to look at the girl under his arm as she spins and hits his shoulder.

 

“We should do that. You should take me to meet your family at dinner. I swear, I will rock your grandparents’ worlds.  It’ll be great. It’s tomorrow, right?” Ryder glares up at his sister, the empath smiling back down at him. She knew he had begun to develop feelings for her, and while she may make it seem like she’s doing this to torture him, she’s actually curious to see if she could handle the family. If she could handle the big family dinner, where the _whole family,_ and the L.A. Institute inhabitants gathered, she was a keeper. If she wasn’t so emotionally unavailable, that is. Jordan can feel it though, deep under the surface where most people don’t even realize they’re feeling. It could happen if her brother plays his cards right. 

 

Ryder didn’t want to scare the girl off, but he also didn’t want the rare bright smile on her face to fade, and he knows it will as soon as he denies her. He sends pure anger towards his sister, raising his eyebrow in challenge as she cringes uncomfortably. “Don’t you have to go back to Kansas?”

 

She shakes her head, “Nope. I gotta stay here, train with the X-Men, all of that good shit. Can I come?”

 

“Of course. It’ll be chaos though. Even before I introduce a Hunter to them, you’re being warned.” She nods along smiling a wicked smile.

 

“This is going to be  _ fun. _ ” She laughs an evil-sounding laugh, sinking back into her seat.

 

#

 

“Did you get her to give you blood?” Raven questions from her seat next to Hank, who was ‘normal’ looking at the moment.

 

“She fought tooth and nail about having to have a needle stuck in her arm- though considering what’s on those Hydra files, I don’t particularly blame her for not liking needles- but yeah. I got it. I just got done running the test, if you’d like to see it.” Raven leans on the desk, nodding at him to show her the outcome. The lab had been completely renovated by Tony Stark after he took one look at it and said no one that’s friends with him is having any outdated equipment, and to be fair a lot of the stuff in here is from when he first moved in, so Hank couldn’t agree more that the stuff was a little outdated.

 

“You’re sure that her DNA couldn’t have been altered too much to be recognizable. Again, if we’re going by the Hydra files, they did a blood transfusion to quite a few of other-” Raven adds, only to be cut off by the scientists.

 

“They did the transfusions with artificial blood created from the subject's own DNA. I already thought about that. If she was one, her blood was altered by the serum, but it should be close enough to her original sample, if she  _ is  _ who you think she is, then the blood work should match up…” He grabs the new Stark pad off the table, pulling up the results to show her. “And it does.”

 

“Holy shit.” The blue woman looks down at the tablet, then back up at him, “Charles was right.”

 

“You’ll find that he usually is,” Erik states from the doorway, causing both of them to jump. “What is the hopeful telepath right about this time?” Raven silently walks over to him, handing him the tablet. He scans it for a moment, his eyebrows raising the only sign that he knew what he was reading. “You ran a DNA test without Kirstin’s permission?”

 

“I mean, there was a vague mention of it when I drew the blood, but that’s not the point-” Hank tries to wave off the question. Erik sends him a glare, “Okay, technically, yes I ran it without her permission, but isn’t it better now that you  _ know _ . Your daughter isn’t dead, she was just-”

 

“Tortured for the first seven years of her life, the left an empty shell of a child, wondering if her parents were working for the people who hurt her, or if they just didn’t care enough to report her missing?” Raven looks down at the ground, knowing exactly why, at the time, they were incapable of reporting her missing.

 

Hank sighs, opting to change the subject, “We should probably set her up with a Birth Certificate too. She didn’t need one as Amethyst, and I honestly doubt she has one now. I could alter the name on her old one, but it’d be harder to submit than a brand new one.” He continues rambling but stops abruptly when the man turns and leaves. “Or not. That works too.”

 

#

 

Alex sighs, leaning against the wall in his room, examining the objects he’d pulled out of the small box. The small pictures were scattered across the ground in front of it, wrong with age and being sent through the mail to the base he was staying in at the time. Then to his parent’s house, but after they passed away and Scott moved in here, they’d begun to get fewer and far between. The foster parents had started sending fewer pictures as the girl got older, meaning there were a lot of gaps in between each painting; like the year his daughter decided to bleach the blue out of her hair, or the year she decided to try the opposite, dying her streaked dirty-blonde hair blue instead.

 

He never had gotten up the nerve to tell his boyfriend of the time about their daughter, he had barely gotten up the nerve after his near-death experience with Apocalypse, though he was really glad that this had been in the duffle in the car his brother had taken to the mall. When he did tell him, he’d completely broken down, unable to talk about the girl he'd given up all that time ago. Finally, he grabbed the small flip phone the girl had given him the last time they had met in person.

 

Dialing the only number on the old phone, he hears it ring a few times before he hears the sound of someone picking up, then something completely out of left field. “Who are you and how the  _ hell _ do you have this number?” A deep, very male voice grinds out.

 

He gets over his momentary shock, clearing his voice before speaking, “Uh… this is Aria's phone correct?”

 

“This hasn't been her phone since December 24, 2012. Who the hell is this?” That was only a year after she'd given him the number.

 

“This is Alex Summers. Aria's father? Do you know where I can reach her?” There was a feeling of dread in his stomach, that only grew when he spoke next.

 

“Son of a bitch… uh, maybe try an Ouija board?”

 

#

 

Raven types the name into the computer, Hank having left in a rush after reading a text from Alex.  _ Probably sexting him. Wouldn't put it past Summers. _ She asks FRIDAY to begin the scan, waiting as patiently as she could for the results, though she knew they wouldn't be in for a while.  _ What didn't you tell me, Katy-Kat?  _


	12. 10

_ Kirstin was exploring the new Avengers building, having been just dropped off by Pepper, who had taken the girls on Tony’s request. Avery was back at the Tower, packing up their stuff because she didn’t want to come here yet. She was currently following Thor, Tony, and Steve, who were discussing the new guy on the team, Vision.  _

 

_ “If he can wield the hammer, he can keep the Mind Stone. It's safe with the Vision and these days, safe is in short supply.” Thor states in his normal booming voice. Kirstin wouldn’t consider the guy safe, he was the reason Jarvis was no longer around and he was the closest friend Kirstin had had in… forever. Though, Avery’s friend Mason was becoming a close second. Maybe one day he would surpass the A.I. _

 

_ “But if you put the hammer in an elevator…” Steve starts. _

 

_  “It would still go up.” Tony finishes. _

 

_ “Elevator's not worthy,” Steve adds, earning a laugh from Kirstin, who walks over to them, holding her hand out to Thor. With a single thought and the signature purple around her fingers, the hammer comes flying into her hand. _

 

_ She points at Tony with the hammer, “Nice logic, in theory. Except that means the suit should be able to pick it up, and it can’t, so, clearly…” Mimicking Thor’s accent, she does a sweeping gesture with Mjolnir. “You're all just not worthy.” Handing Thor back his hammer, she smiles up at his equally shocked and amused face, “So when do I get to rule Asgard.” _

 

_ “Even without the hammer, Lady of Angels, you would still be treated like royalty for your title.” Kirstin crinkles her nose at the name. _

 

_ “Nevermind. I don’t want to be royalty if I have to suffer through being called that.” She gives Tony a hug when he requests one. “I’m going to go check on Clint’s Sleeping Beauty.” She turns back the way she came, giving Steve a small smile. _

 

_ “Wait, what do you mean Clint’s Sleeping Beauty?” Tony calls after her, confused as to why she would call Pietro that when he really just used himself as a human shield against the hail of bullets. _

 

_ “Whatever you think it means. Bye!” The girl takes off running, using the stairs instead of the elevator because she always has a lot of energy to burn, something she’s hoping she will grow out of. By the time the thirteen-year-old slides to a stop, she’s nearly crashing into someone down in the lab. “Mason!” _

 

_ “Kirstin!” He mimics the surprised voice humorously, looking through a file. _

 

_ “What are you doing here?” Kirstin asks, confused. She knew he got accepted into a better program, one where, instead of filing crap for everybody in the office, he would be shadowing a doctor that works here and learning from them. Tony and Kirstin were hoping for it to be Helen Cho, if she chose to stay, because she was the best of the best. _

 

_ “I’m an intern here. You know this, Kirstin.” Mason doesn’t sound upset, something she enjoyed about him. He always seemed willing to put up with her antics and her inability to show up on time for anything and a slew of other reasons most people disliked her for. Even when she shows up out of the blue with a ‘mission’ (read: insane scheme) for them to complete. _

 

_ “I know, I just thought you…” If he hadn’t been told, she didn’t want to get his hopes up, “didn’t work today.” _

 

_ “Well, they need all the help they can get. If you’re looking for the Maximoffs, they’re the third room of the left and you didn’t hear that from me because we’re supposed to give them privacy.” Kirstin went to go crack a joke but pauses. _

 

_ “So why tell me?” _

 

_ Mason shrugs, “That woman, what’s her name, Wanda?” Kirstin nods again, her black hair swaying slightly. Mason closes the file he was looking through, dropping it onto the counter and leaning forward so his weight was resting on his hands, “Wanda, she’s really torn up, she won’t eat and she hasn’t slept and it's all… just a little concerning. We’re waiting on some psychologists to come down so she can get her psych-eval done, so we can’t exactly come up with any other reasons for her to leave her brother’s side yet. Unless we want to take someone who just helped stop Ultron to jail for previous crimes. So she just hasn’t left the room since Pietro’s health steadied. Not to say we are upset that she cares about her brother, it’s just…” _

 

_ “She needs to take care of herself too. No, I get it. So why send me in?” _

 

_ Mason laughs to himself as if Kirstin just made a bad pun that he both hates and loves, “Because you can be a firm hand?” He seems to flounder for a moment. “I cannot just walk in there and tell her to get her ass up and take care of her self because I’m more… emotionally aware of other people, while you’re… not?” _

 

_ Kirstin stares blankly at him, “Basically you’re telling me that I need to get her to take care of herself because I don’t give a damn about other people’s feelings.” Mason winces slightly, but nods. Kirstin ponders it for a second, tilting her head in a nod-like movement. “Okay.” She easily walks away from Mason and follows the directions he gave her. As expected, the room was where he claimed and Wanda was next to her brother, looking absolutely miserable for more than one reason. _

 

_ Sighing, she moves her arms slightly before dropping them to her side and nodding to herself. Walking into the room, she closes the door, not bothering to hold the handle as it thumps shut. “Alright, Red, here’s the plan. Your brother is in a coma, and we don’t know when he’s waking up. He is going to be transferred to a place that can take better care of him in the coma and after he wakes up. This means that you can’t do this whole sitting here for nearly three days without moving shit, okay? Okay. So that leaves you with a few options, only one of them I like. I’m hoping you’ll like it too, or we’ll have to deal with the other ones that aren’t nearly as likable. Like me.” That was a joke, something that clearly went over the older girl's head, judging by the confused, almost unseeing eyes watching her. Kirstin sighs, willing a chair to slide over to her. “Alright. Option one. You go on trial as a Hydra agent, maybe claim everything done was under coercion or plea insanity depending on your psych-eval that will be done. Option two is to go to a psych ward, again based on the outcome of the psych-eval. Option three is the one I like.” _

 

_ “What,” She clears her throat, trying to make her croaky voice come out clearer, “What is option three?” _

 

_ Kirstin smiles to herself, “You become an Avenger. Again, the outcome does depend on the psych-eval but not nearly as much as one would think. They just want to make sure you’re not gonna randomly wake up with the urge to kill everyone in the universe… damn, I sound bitter, anyway. If that doesn’t happen, you can officially join the team, though a stipulation is to see a therapist or psychologist weekly for your Hydra and parent-related issues and that you are going to have to make amends for your actions towards the team. Other than that you just… well, you have to be downstairs in a half an hour for the first meeting of the Avengers recruits.” _

 

_ Wanda stares at the wall for a long moment, the only sound in the room the monitors keeping Pietro alive. “Do you know what you showed me?” She turns to face her then, despair in her eyes. “When you attacked me the way I had been attacking your family?” _

 

_ “No. I didn’t want to see any more Hydra torture. I saw enough of it first-hand.” Kirstin sits tensely, prepared for an attack from the girl, though she doesn’t think she’s going to get one. _

 

_ A dark chuckle leaves the Sokovian’s lips, “You definitely showed me plenty of that. Except, you showed me something I wasn’t expecting.” She takes a shaky breath, “My entire life, our entire lives have been a lie. We have parents, we have siblings, we… had a family before Hydra… before Hydra…” _

 

_ “Hey, what are you trying to say?” Kirstin asks, pulling herself back from reading the broken woman’s mind, knowing the damage it would cause herself. “That Hydra made this backstory up so you would attack the Avengers?” _

 

_ “No. Not so we’d attack the Avengers. They took us, three of us, from our home. I know the other one was younger but I don’t remember how much, what they looked like… it’s been so long and the memories I do have are so damaged from the work The Cuckoos did to us. But they were loving and caring and… Hydra took us, erased the family we had, and placed us with agents that pretended to love us.” _

 

_ Kirstin nodded along, understanding where this was going, “The parents who died by Obadiah Stane’s hands.” Wanda nods along silently. Kirstin leans forward, awkwardly placing her hand on he girls' shoulder, “Ask them for help finding your parents, Wanda. I’m positive they would be willing to give it. But you have to go down there to do that. You can’t hole up here and hope for a miracle.” _

 

_ “I increased the probability of him waking up, of surviving this and coming out the same he was before, as much as I possibly could. It is not a question of if he wakes up, just when.” The black-haired girl nods, a soft smile on her face. _

 

 _“Alright. Then have good news for him when he does, Wanda. I know I would want that.” Wanda nods standing up from the chair shakily. She heads toward the door, not expecting Kirstin to follow, so she doesn’t._ Huh _, Kirstin thinks to herself,_ I’m pretty good at that. _Patting the man's legs she stands up and puts her chair back._ “You did the right thing, protecting that kid. _Maybe_ _you're not as awful as I thought.” She pats his leg one more time, turning toward the door, “You're gonna be okay.”_

 

#

 

Charles sighs, running his hand over his face as he attempts to focus on the paperwork Tony had sent him via Stark Tablet. It was essentially a lease for a new school building, a much, much larger one. More secure too. He also sent him a bunch of mutant, or mutant friendly teachers anywhere from kindergarten to university teaching experience. He had to admit, the building is a lot safer than his childhood home, and considering how many times the attacks on the X-men had led directly to this place, it wasn't the worst idea to get the children somewhere safer. However, he wasn't quite sure  _ why  _ Stark was so interested in building him a new school and refused to meet in person until he either came to sign the paperwork or came to tell him to mind his own business, so he was going over the paperwork with a fine-toothed comb. 

 

Erik entered the room at the moment, moving to rest his head slightly on the back of his husband's chair, carefully letting his hands slide down the man's chest. Charles hums contently, leaning back to look up at his taller husband, “Why would Tony Stark hand over a school building without an ulterior motive? I mean, what's in it for him?” Erik laughs slightly, “What? Erik, do not laugh at me, it's a serious question.”

 

Pulling away from the chair, he moves to sit on the end of the desk, “I never truly think about how much we've rubbed off on each other until moments when you actually stop to check for the worst, even as you continue seeing the best.” Charles cracks a coy smile.

“I think we've done a lot more than rub off on each other, Erik. The children are very much proof of that point.” Erik shakes his head in disapproval,  the small smile on his face giving away his true amusement at the statement.

 

“Here I am being poetic about how much we've grown together, and you're sitting there making sex jokes. Honestly, Charles. What am I going to do with you?” Another smile draws on the man's lips, as he moves out of his seat to lean against the man.

 

“I have a few ideas.” He sends a few his way, earning a moan from the normally composed man. Erik tries to stay focused, trying to give him the important news.

 

“I actually have something to tell you, something important.” Charles pulls back, another grin on his face, the joking mood still evident.

 

“You're pregnant?” That earned a snort from the older man, both of them knowing quite well which one of them was the Carrier of the two. 

 

“No, but I have something that will… definitely inflate your ego more than it already is at times. I also feel the need to point out that I had absolutely nothing to do with this.” He grabs the Stark tablet from the desk, pulling up a file he had sent from Hank's. He showed it to him carefully, gauging his reaction as he scanned the test. Charles’ eyes light up, a smile instantly over his pale face.

 

“I was right. She is… Cassie is alive, Erik!” His hand instantly goes to his stomach, a movement Erik did not miss. 

 

“Yes, she is. She just has no clue that we are her parents and has severe emotional and psychological damage. And I choked her the first time I met her. What a lovely start to a beautiful father-daughter relationship.” Erik states dryly, watching as Charles sets the tablet down on the desk.

 

“Your relationship with Lorna and Jean started minutes after I broke you out of prison. Well, you didn't know about your relation until… Sorry, it technically started with Lorna punching you in the face while you were destroying a city and working with Apocalypse. Jean’s started after you saved us from Apocalypse when you two were rebuilding our house that exploded. I'd say it's a slight improvement.” Erik glares at the man, who was now writing something down. He pulls the metal pen out of Charles’ hand, earning a snicker from the younger man.

 

Moving toward the door of the office, Charles pauses long enough to spit out a hasty  _ come on, Erik _ before turning to keep going, Stark Pad in hand.

 

#

 

Mason digs through Kirstin’s closet, growing upset with every outfit he finds. “You are a woman. How do you not own a singular dress?”  Kirstin laughs from her place on her bed, her head dangling off the end. She was in her bra and underwear, wrapped in Mason’s gigantic robe. 

 

“Because I am a woman who, despite her many talents, has not mastered Wearing Dresses 101, and prefer to wear jeans. Just work with what you’re given or get out of my room.” He turns, marching out of the room without a word. Kirstin lets out a questioning sound, turning to look at the ajar door. “Well, that was easier than expected.” She rolls to lay back on the bed, mentally nudging the door shut. She had another two hours before she had to be ready but Mason wanted to help her.

 

Kirstin closes her eyes, humming a song she'd heard echoing around Mason's mind earlier.  _ Gay or European? It's hard to guarantee. Is he gay or European? _

 

Her thought singing was cut off by Mason and Jordan bursting into her room. She'd felt their minds, so they didn't scare her like Mason secretly hoped he would. Mason was the only person who gives her complete permission to roam his head. Though, he did warn her that his thoughts could get dirty really quick if given the right ammunition. Honestly, Kirstin sometimes wonders if it's the reason they're closer is  _ because  _ he trusts her enough to give her free roam, and she could help him better than the others because she knew what he was thinking. “You're lucky I know you, Kirstin. I brought a dress you can wear, but you got to get in it quickly. We have a lot to do.” Jordan pauses for a moment running her hand through a chunk of Kirstin's long hair. The temporary die had already washed out, so it was back to its original purple hue.

 

Letting out an annoyed groan, Kirstin drags herself off the bed, gesturing for the other two to turn around. She pulls the baggy dress over her head, grabbing the belt the Shadowhunter brought, tightening it around her waist. “God, you two are worse than Avery and Sabrina.”

 

“Where is Avery anyway?” Jordan wonders out loud, and Kirstin can bear Mason's thought quickly adding:  _ and Jack.  _

 

Kirstin examines the dress. The older girl was slightly shorter than her, meaning the dress at higher on her thighs than it would the other girl. It was actually to the point that they could nearly see her underwear. She pulls on a short pair of shorts, making sure that they were zipped. “They went back to the Bunker. They're gonna come back soon, summers got what, one month left? I don't understand why they left so late but whatever. How's that pursuit going, anyway?”

 

“Slowly. I think he's figuring out what he wants in a partner. I know he went on some dates with one of the nurses in training. He told me that he thought she was pretty but didn't feel much else, even when they kissed.” _I also caught him making out with Bruce's very male assistant the other day._ Kirstin laughs.

 

“I knew it. I knew there was something going on there! Has he talked to you about  _ that _ ?” She laughs again at the sarcastic thought sent her way.  _ No. Hence why I was looking for him.  _ _ Oh. _

 

“Well, I feel left out, so I'm gonna go change.” Jordan turns to the connected bathroom.  _ You better not freeze my fucking mirror again, Elsa.  _ _ No promises. _ She wiggles her fingers as she shoves the thought my way and closes the door.

 

“I'm thinking about hitting Ryder up,” Mason says after a moment. “Are you okay with that?” She smiles at him, though there was an uncomfortable feeling in her chest.

 

“I want to say yes, though I think I feel angry.” Mason was the only person she told her feelings to straight, not bothering with hiding. It  _ was _ only fair. “So I'm saying yes. I'm probably just upset that you think you have to ask me in the first place.”  _ Though it might be guilt for not telling you everything like we promised.  _ She kept that thought to herself.

 

“Sure, it could be that. Or… maybe you're jealous.” Kirstin rolls her eyes in the mirror.

 

“I have no reason to be jealous. You guys are Friends with Benefits and will be until you get a boyfriend and he gets some form of significant other. You guys used to date, but it didn't work out- though apparently the sex is amazing- and that's it. Why does it matter how I feel about it?” She begins to apply eyeliner. There was a popular, but incorrect, belief in high school that she didn't know how to do makeup and that's why she didn't wear any. And they would've been right if it wasn't for Avery and having to go to these stupid galas and rich people shit. Honestly, at least one person tries to slip her champagne at each one because they automatically assume that Tony won't let her drink it. In reality, the crap is absolutely disgusting, and too bubbly for  _ any  _ Winchester's tastes. 

 

“You are my best friend and I want your opinion on how I live my life, even if I almost never follow said opinions or advice given.”  _ Plus, you two are totally going to end up banging by the end of the year. _

 

“You do remember I can hear your thoughts, right?”  _ Exactly _ . Kirstin rolls her eyes in the mirror as she moves on to the next step in the makeup routine. “Whatever. I'm mostly just curious how come you guys broke up. I mean you're good friends, you sleep together, isn't that essentially the best relationship ever?” Mason snorts softly.

 

“No,” He sprawls out on the large barely used bed.  _ She doesn't sleep much.  _ “You don't want friendship and good sex,  you want a spark, something that draws you to them without even trying. You want romance, and you can't get that from friendship. And the good sex. Always the good sex. That's never a question.” Jordan laughs as she enters the room again, a light blue fluffy dress on, and her makeup already perfected.

 

“I wonder if I can get Ryder to do my dirty work in setting up the party this weekend.” She shrugs noncommittally, “I mean, I probably could. I have some blackmail secrets in mind.” 

“I feel like it involves a certain almost-sixteen-year-old.” Kirstin ignores the comment and the pang in her chest. Checking her phone, she tosses the borrowed makeup back into Avery's bag.

 

“I feel like it's time for us to go. Come on, Mr. Belikov. You're officially Jordan's date for the night.” He snorts disappearing into his room for a moment before meeting us in the hallway. He traded out the light blue bleach stained shirt for a black button-up, keeping the blue jeans on. 

 

“Yo ho let's go.” He muttered jokingly.

  
“Did you just quote  _ Jake and the Neverland Pirates? _ ” Jordan asks incredulously.  _ Bitch, I might have.  _ Kirstin laughs at the thought, walking ahead of the two, glad Jordan didn't notice the fact she was wearing her combat boots instead of heels. Or which hairpins she was using. 


	13. 11

_ Kirstin leans against the wall as Wanda and her brother hug for the first time since the boy had woken up. It had been seven months of therapy sessions and grueling training regimens for Wanda, along with missions with the rest of the Avengers, and a boring month of physical and mental therapies for Pietro after he woke up from the coma. “сестра.” _ **_(Sister.)_ ** _ He mutters softly as she buries her face in his shoulder, arms wrapped tightly around him, an act he easily returns. _

 

_ “Awkward.” Kirstin mutters under her breath, mentally cursing out Clint for talking her into going with Wanda as ‘emotional support’. She can barely support her own emotions and now Clint forces her to support other people’s? _

 

_ Pietro hears her muttering and laughs, pulling away from his sister, “Would you like a hug, маленький цветок?”  _ **_(Little Flower?)_ ** _ Kirstin snorts in amusement.  _

 

_ “No thanks, Speedy. Keep it for your sister, I hear she's got some news. I'm gonna go talk to your doctors.” She exits the room, letting Wanda deliver the exciting news. She had found their parents a few weeks ago and was excited to tell him. _

 

_ # _

 

_ Pietro lets out a groan as Kirstin lets out a loud cry of victory. “Ha! I win!” _

 

_ “I demand a rematch. There is no way you are that good at dancing!” Pietro exclaims, turning to grab the remote for the Xbox Kirstin had brought in.  _

 

_ “But I am! Three months' worth of physical therapy and you still can't dance!” Kirstin laughs out, not noticing the large smile on Wanda's face as she watches the two. The doctors had been trying to find a way that they could get Pietro to work out without him using his abilities, due to running the risk of hurting himself again, so Kirstin volunteered the Kinect and dancing games because he had to stay in time with the game itself. _

 

_ “No. But I will improve and I will kick your ass, маленький цветок.”  _ **_(Little Flower.)_ ** _ Kirstin chuckles. _

 

_ “Better than Violet, I guess.” Dropping on the couch next to Wanda, she sighs. “What you wanna do next?” _

 

_ “Scrabble.” Wanda offers, pointing out the number of boardgames splayed across the table. “Or one of the thousands Tony and Clint bought you for us to play.” _

 

_ “I think they are guilty about what happened.” Pietro declares, turning off the gaming console. He drops into the seat on the other side of Kirstin. _

 

_ “Of course they feel guilty. You nearly died for Clint and a kid he was protecting and your ‘parents’ death was caused by Obadiah Stane, who Tony thinks wouldn't have had a chance to sell the weapons if Tony had paid more attention to his company.” Kirstin explains softly, setting up the Scrabble board and setting the rest of the board games on a shelf. _

 

_ “They shouldn't. It is clear it was neither of their faults. It was simply the cruelty of our fate.” Wanda states boldly, setting a book that she had previously been reading on the table and setting up her letters for the game, moving to a new chair that meant she couldn't see Kirstin's and Kirstin couldn't see hers. Pietro soon follows suit. _

 

_ “You believe in fate?” The youngest questions, not at all surprised. They did seem like the type that would need something so hopeful to believe in. _

 

_ “It is the only assured thing, our destinies. Fate is something that must happen to reach them.” Pietro explains easily. _

 

_ “You do not believe in fate?” Wanda continues for her brother, her eyebrows furled in confusion. _

 

_ Kirstin shakes her head, thinking about all the problems ‘fate’ had caused the Winchesters. “I believe everyone has free will. They have the ability to defy their predetermined fate and choose their own ending, happy or otherwise. Fate is an awful, cruel idea, something I hope is not real. What is the point of living if you have your life mapped out for you?” _

 

_ “I guess we will have to, what do you say, agree to disagree?” Pietro offers, making a face at Kirstin’s amused snort at his momentary confusion about the phrase. _

 

_ “Guess so.” She sets some tiles down, “I’ll play down ‘burnout’.” _

 

#

 

Ryder quickly moves to take a place next to Kirstin in their little group as they walk toward the Institute. He places his hand against the small of her back, smiling in amusement as he notices that she was wearing her beat-up black combat boots. “Listen… Maryse and Robert and very few people besides my parents and aunt and uncles know about our powers, so let's try not to bring that up.” The telepath rolls her eyes.  _ Of course not,  _ she sends his way as they reach the front door,  _ they probably would shun you. How do you think ninety percent of the X-mansion students ended up there? _ Kirstin moves to open the door, fingertips barely grazing the handle before it flew open. 

 

“Awesome,” Kirstin whispers to herself, stepping inside curiously. Ryder has to smile at that. He forgot she’d never been to an Institute before. Though, the door usually only opens for Shadowhunters or angel blooded creatures.  _ That’s weird.  _ He shakes off the thought as they reach the large ballroom-turned-dining-space. It was a type of controlled chaos that made him wonder how the hell everybody here has managed to survive without accidentally setting someone’s hair on fire. His parents were in the corner, looking through take-out menus despite the protest that can be heard from the kitchen by his Aunt Isabelle. Considering the smoky air that was leaking out of the kitchen doorway, they definitely had the right idea. Alec and Magnus were trying to wrangle the children and take them to the playroom, but Octavian Blackthorn refused to leave Mark’s side, Raphael Lightwood-Bane was too busy with Christina Rosales, and Max Lightwood-Bane was portalling around, coming from different parts of the Institute before disappearing into another portal. Maryse and Robert were conversing with Diana, the L.A. Institute’s tutor. There were a few Centurians there too; Zara Dearborn and the bitch- Ryder hated her anti-Downworlder views about as much as he hated her personality, or lack thereof- brought a few of her lackeys.

 

Kirstin glances around the chaotic room in wonder, and not of the chaos. She’d been to many fancy places but the Institute was so grand, she couldn’t help but gawk. The walls had runes running up them, and a gorgeous Victorian style room design, with high ceilings and never-ending hallways. Despite the old, beautiful design, it also looked well lived in, like it’s hosted more than a few of these little get-togethers over the years. She loved that more than the design itself, the only well lived in things she saw growing up were nasty-looking motel rooms with questionable stains on the sheets. The Tower, and Compound, had always looked more like a business than a home, and the Miami house was so extravagant, it never really looked or felt homey. The Bunker was just dusty. Very,  _ very  _ dusty. And cold. Though it was her home, with all the weapons hung up on the wall, and all the blood and other miscellaneous stains on the walls, one would not consider it homey, or well lived in.

 

Jordan tucks her arm around the younger girl’s shoulders. “Best birthday present ever, huh?”

 

Kirstin’s eyes widened, spinning to face the red-head,  _ We agreed not to bring that up! Ryder thinks my birthday is tomorrow and Mason has promised no celebrating until tomorrow, despite knowing it's my birthday.  _ _ Which is crap. Why not just celebrate today?  _ _ Because bad things happen on my birthday, and because of that I’d rather we don’t gather all my loved ones in a single place.  _ Jordan doesn’t actively respond to her, but she catches a few profanities about superstition being thrown around her head when she scans through it slightly.

 

“Watch out, Ryder, I think your sister is trying to steal your date.” A blonde teenager jokes, smiling at Ryder and Jordan. Jordan removes her arm, giving the blonde a quick hug, and Kirstin has to resist the urge to get his name off of him by telepathic means.  _ I can be patient.  _ _ Sure you can. _ _ Fuck off, Jordan. _

 

Ryder snorts, giving a quick “bro-hug” (The one where they hold hands after a high-five like handshake and pat each other on the back) and turning to face me. “I doubt it. Kirstin, this is Kit. Kit, Kirstin.”

 

Kirstin shakes his hand when he sticks it out. He glances down at my hand, a questioning look in his eyes. “So, you’re a mundane with the sight?” 

 

She laughs awkwardly pulling her hand away, “Well, pretty close. I’m a Hunter. Those are mundanes that go after demons and Downworlders that broke the law.” A scoff comes from across the room, a blue-eyed man joining the conversation.

 

“Hunters kill anything that isn’t human. Many Downworlder murders were done by Hunters. We can’t even bring them to justice because they are mundanes.” Robert Lightwood adds thinly veiled anger in his voice. Maryse rolls her eyes, not bothering to voice her opinions on either of the conversation topics.  _ We did the same thing in the Circle, Robert. The only difference is they are actually helping people. _

 

Kirstin nods for a moment before looking at the Lightwood, “That’s fair. There are a few of us Hunters that don’t play by the rules. They opt to kill anything that isn’t human, yes, but not all of us are like that. Us Winchesters-” That earns another loud scoff.

 

“Winchesters? You mean the brothers that kick-started the Apocalypse?” He snaps harshly, not even bothering to hide his disgust. Jordan flinches slightly as he raises his voice, looking awkwardly to Ryder, the look clearly showing her thoughts, which mostly consisted of  _ ‘oh shit.’  _

 

“You mean the brothers that stopped the Apocalypse on multiple occasions, have stopped  _ Lucifer _ on multiple occasions, stopped the Darkness from destroying the world, made sure Lucifer never got the chance to influence his son, and almost went to  _ prison  _ on multiple occasions to ensure the safety of every living, breathing being on this Earth? Yeah, those brothers. We don’t kill innocent Downworlders, we go after the murderers. It’s not my fault you feel the need to project your crimes onto other people, Mr. Lightwood. I would prefer it if you didn’t take it out on my family.” Kirstin takes a step forward, easily putting the smile that had dropped from her face back on and sticking her hand out towards Maryse, who at least had the decency to keep her mouth shut about her prejudice. “Hello, I’m Kirstin.”

 

“Maryse. I’m sorry about my ex-husband. He’s a little bit of-”

 

“An ass?” Ryder offers, quickly followed by Jordan.

 

“A prick?” Mason snorts softly to himself, having already introduced himself to Kit.

 

“So you brought a Hunter and a mundane to a Shadowhunter get together. Isn’t bringing mundanes into Institutes against Clave rules?” A brunette from across the room-  _ Zara Dearborn _ Kirstin learns from a quick check-in Ryder's head- questions.  _ Is everyone here a dick? Or are they just dicks to outsiders?  _ Ryder laughs under his breath, so softly that only Kirstin’s advanced hearing could pick it up.  _ There is no right answer to that question, Kirstin. Just get through this, then you can hang out with Alec and Magnus and meet my parents.  _ _ I need to talk to Magnus, btw. It’s important. _

 

“Well, I’m actually not a mundane, thank you. I’m a Dhampir, actually.” Mason elaborates, talking quickly. The brunette looks rather surprised by this admission, and Ryder quickly tugs Kirstin to meet his parents before she could respond. They were in the middle of ordering pizza, while Izzy pouts slightly. Simon was nowhere to be found but there was clanging happening in the kitchen that he will assume is him.

 

“Hey, Ryder. Who's your friend?” The blonde man in front of the two teenagers questions while his wife talks on the phone. It was clear to Kirstin what child looked like who, though both of them got their father’s gold eyes.

 

“I'm Kirstin.” She offers before Ryder has the chance, “Kirstin Winchester. Let's just get the whole ‘Hunters are brutes’ thing out of the way before this dinner continues though, all right? Got issues, might as well say it now, your dad already made his point of view pretty clear, anything to add?” She speaks quickly, but with a confidence that Ryder had never seen her have before. Not to say that the girl was shy and timid but nor was she confident. She was outspoken and wasn't afraid to tell it like it was, but she often preferred blending in and acting as though she was invisible. It was an odd mix that blended into the complex girl next to him and he honestly couldn't wrap his mind around the way her personality rearranges itself depending on the situation.

 

Ryder's dad looks at her for a moment, an unrecognizable look in his eyes. Instead of peaking into his mind, she straightens her spine and squares her shoulders, sending him a look of defiance. After a pause, he lets out a chuckle, “I like you already. I'm-”

 

“Esteban?” Kirstin questions with a purposely cute smile, earning a snort from Ryder. 

 

“Why?” Jordan questions nearby.

 

“Because Esteban!”

 

“I want to know why.”

 

“Too bad!”

 

“-Jace, Ryder's dad.” The older man finishes lamely, looking between the two girls.

 

The redhead, who finally hung up the phone, smiled awkwardly, (which in itself shocked Kirstin. She'd never seen a parent seem awkward around another kid. Not to mention the fact that it was  _ Clary Herondale _ who was acting that way. She and her husband were legends in the Hunter and Shadowhunter community.) sticking out her hand, “I'm Clary, Ryder's mom. Hey, you're one of the Winchester kids, right? From what I've heard, your family are legends.” The curly-haired woman looks confused when her husband laughs. “What?”

 

It's another woman to explain why Jace was laughing, but this one was someone Kirstin had met before. “Not a single Shadowhunter has ever publicly said something nice about Hunters, that's all. There is this stupid animosity between the two groups. Shadowhunters often think that the mundanes need to ‘stay in their place’, while Hunters are usually just offended by the way Shadowhunters act around them. Hey, Kirstin.” Isabelle steps forward, giving the young mutant a slight squeeze.

 

“Hey, Isabelle.” The girl replies, turning to glance at her friends on the other side of the room. Jordan was talking animatedly to Kit and a few other teenagers, Mason looking like he's about ready to burst out laughing.

 

“Well, that should change. I mean, I've read what those two Hunters have accomplished, and honestly, I think most Shadowhunters should be learning from them. They're good.” Kirstin bites her lip, attempting to hold back a laugh, and ultimately failing, “You too?”

 

“Well, I personally agree with you. The animosity is crap, and the world would be a safer place if Hunters and  Shadowhunters worked together. I was just laughing at the fact that you're over here praising them like you haven't saved as many lives as you have. I mean, from what I picked up, half of the teenagers over there have some sort of hero-worship thing going on with all of the Lightwoods, Herondales, and Lovelaces in one room.” It took her a moment to realize her mistake, silently cursing herself out.

 

“Picked up?” Jace questions, seeming more intrigued than confused.

 

“Uh, yeah… I'm a telepath. Sorry, I was trying to keep that out of today's little dinner. Apparently that didn't work out very well.” She shrugs softly, glancing back toward her friends again. “Oops.”

 

The older man laughs slightly. “A telepath? Gonna ask me to think of a number between one and ten?” Kirstin snorts, easily reaching into his mind.

 

“I mean, I could ask you about why the Clave is on the brink of war with Seelies and Unseelies. Or about that time that you were dead. But I think I'd rather ask about the time you almost cut your own pinky off when you were young.” Ryder looks shocked, though his parents seemed to be even more shocked than him.

 

“I didn't even know about that. Damn. Why are you so good at that?” Ryder questions softly, ignoring Izzy's laugh. 

 

“It's a curse. Do you want us to go pick up those pizzas you ordered?”

 

#

 

“How did you talk them into letting us be the ones to pick it up?” Ryder asks himself, carrying four pizzas while Kirstin gently nudges minds to stay out of their ways.

 

She laughs, playing with the belt on her dress, “I didn't mess with their minds if that's what you are thinking. I simply asked and they said yes. Honestly, I think Jace just wanted me out of there because he was embarrassed  and didn't want to admit it.” Kirstin jokes, earning a chuckle out of the older boy.

 

“Hey, can you text Jordan and ask her to meet us at the door?” The boy adjusts the pizzas in his arms, making a protesting noise when Kirstin grabs two of them from him. Rolling her eyes, she adjusted her grip and helps him carry the food.

 

“Uh, no I cannot. I left my phone with Mason because he said it would look weird if I had it in my pocket. It’s okay, I’ll reach out to her when we get there, it’ll all be good.” She tries to shrug, but it was kind of hard while carrying pizza. That earns a faux-annoyed look in her direction.

 

#

 

Jack watches the fight take place, standing back as blood gushes from his nose and trickles down his chest from the puncture of the archangel blade. Dean and Lucifer were fighting, loud thunderous crashes. Sam quickly tosses Dean the archangel blade that Jack had been using on himself. After a few more moments of slightly blurred fighting,- that could have just been him, his head was killing him- Dean tossed something to Sam before plunging the blade through Lucifer’s chest.

 

Instead of Sam letting the young Nephilim watch his father collapse, he hands him the vial of grace Dean had passed to him during the fight. “Here. It’s your grace. Dean got it for you, it’ll help you heal.” Jack dazedly grabs the vial, blinking sleepily for a few moments while the Winchesters examine his father’s dead body. “Holy crap! You did it.”

 

“No,” Dean corrects, standing from the crouching position next to the body. “No, we did it.” He laughs incredulously as Jack replenishes his grace quickly, already beginning to feel better.

 

Sam begins laughing too, “We did it.” They laugh for a few more moments, Jack giving them an odd look. Dean looked weird to him, almost like there was a second face under his. Lucifer and Cas had always just shown the second face unless you were actively wanting to view their vessels. It hit him like a ton of bricks when Dean keeled over, letting out a harsh groan.

 

“Dean?” He continues to groan, before letting out a gasp. Sam takes a step toward Dean as Jack takes a step away. “Dean!”

“We had a deal!” Dean grinds out, voice straining as he fights against the archangel. 

 

“Michael!” 

 

Something seems to wash over his face. He straightens up, eyes flashing bright blue. “Thanks for the suit.” With that, he vanishes. Sam and Jack exchange fearful looks, Sam grabbing his phone out quickly. After a moment of dialing, he holds it to his ear.

 

“Avery?” Sam asks, worry clear in his voice.

 

“Sam? Is everyone okay? I came to and dad was gone and Cas won’t tell me what happened. Where is he? Where are you? Are you guys and Jack okay?” The teenager sits on the table in the War Room, letting Bobby- who looks like, but isn’t, her uncle Bobby- clean and stitch up her wounds. She had the phone on speaker, meaning her voice was slightly far away, but she was thanking Stark Phones for their durability. She had been thrown into a wall and the thing still worked.  _ Now they just need to work on the speakerphone capabilities.  _

 

“Uh, not really.” Sam turns to look at an alert Jack. “Jack was injured, but he’s healing now. I’m…” he glances down at himself, ignoring the throbbing in his arm from being slammed into the wall earlier. “Relatively okay. Dean was taken over by Apocalypse Michael, I need you to put Bobby on the phone.”  _ Okay, that explains Cas’ sullen silence.  _ Avery thought, quickly followed by a wave of worry and concern and  _ anger _ . She nods for Bobby to take the phone, letting her grandmother take his place.

 

“Hey, boy,” Bobby says, picking up the phone and taking it off speaker. 

 

“Is there anybody specific that Michael would want to go after? World leaders, angels, other humans? Hell, even demons?” Sam asks quickly, ignoring the build of panic in his chest. He didn’t have a plan, but he knew that he wasn’t going to let Michael run around in his brother’s body.

 

“I mean, he wiped out all the world leaders, all the demons, and most humans from our Earth. Not that it matters, Sam. What are you going to do if you can even find him? You gonna kill Michael and your brother too? Or are you gonna let him kill you? You need a plan, Winchester. Don’t be an idjit. Think it through.” Sam clenches his jaw, resisting the urge to snap at the leader he was talking to.

 

Jack looks at Sam for a minute. “But if you find out who he might go after, you could get a protection detail on them, couldn’t you?”

 

Sam nods, realizing that Bobby couldn’t hear what Jack said, or see his nod. “Just give me a small list. We may not be able to keep them one hundred percent safe, but we can keep them moving and protected.”

 

Bobby sighs, knowing he wouldn't be able to talk sense into the man. He racked his brain for a moment, thinking over everything he knew about Michael. “Well… he killed off the world leaders first, but I doubt he would begin so predictably. Plus, there are many more powerful people here than in our world. The Avengers, the mutants here are better represented than they were on our Earth, meaning they have more power and ability to learn and grow, instead of hiding from the government in fear.” He stops for a second, letting out a humorous laugh, “I could tell you who he’d go after if she existed on this Earth. His daughter. Amethyst Ward. She’d originally worked with Hydra to take over SHIELD, before helping Michael destroy Hydra from the inside out. Two birds, one stone. She murdered her adoptive family, who were part of Hydra, and help Michael build his army.”

 

“I don’t understand, if she helped him, why would he want her dead?” Sam questions anxiously. He recognized the name.

 

“She joined us in the final stretch. She fell in love with one of the men in our league. He wasn’t human, a Shadowhunter, or something, but he worked with us. They fell for each other, and she turned on her father. She’d helped some of the people here escape, and they destroyed many of the angelic hideouts before Michael killed them both. When she died, she destroyed hundreds of miles of land and killed half of the angelic population. I never put much thought into it, but I always assumed that that was her parting gift to us.” Sam had to swallow down the bile in his throat.

 

“What did she look like?” If Bobby noticed the crack in his voice, he didn’t let on.

 

“Purple hair, purple eye. Had these golden-purple inscriptions all up her arms. Why?” Sam let out a stream of curse words, hanging up the phone. The brothers had decided it would be best to keep Kirstin’s angelic heritage to themselves in an attempt to protect her from the judgment of the others. She had been dying her hair at the time, of her own accord because they would never have her do that if she didn’t want to, and had kept up a slight telepathic illusion to make her eyes look blue. Nobody knew that Kirstin was Michael’s daughter, except the Winchesters. And now, because of this, Michael knew too.

 

He tries her number three times, going to voicemail each time. He lets out another string of curse words, only to find Jack gone. Letting out  _ more  _ profanities, he calls Avery back, asking to get a ride home from his coordinates, which Avery got from something Tony set up in each of their phones. After he got the ride, he went back to calling Kirstin, hoping she’d pick up.


	14. Chapter 14

Jack lets his weight thump onto the ground at the school Kirstin had been attending. He had never been there before, but Kirstin told him so much about the place he could get there by concentrating on the drawings she'd shown him. She drew nearly every room in the place to the last detail. He glanced around, attempting to find his way through the building. One of the kids in the room noticed him and let out a loud yelp, earning more attention on him. 

 

Logan rounds the corner with a teenage girl, listening as she spoke, but quickly coming to a stop when he sees him. “Jesus fuck Jack! What the hell happened to you?”

 

“I need help. I need to find Kirstin, someone is after her and I don't know where she is.” He takes a step back when the girl's gloved hand reached out to touch his bloody face. He spins around when a couple enters the room. 

 

The brunette man instantly takes a step forward, looking as though he wants to make sure he was okay, but stops himself when he reads Jack's mind. He turns around, grabbing something from the room he exited before nodding for the boy to follow him, giving him a mental nudge as well.

 

Jack explains everything to them as the men stand anxiously. They share a few looks as if they saw this coming. “Okay. We know where she is, you just have to take us there.” He waits for the information, smiling at them when the shorter man tells him. 

 

“Thank you.” Is all he says before teleporting away from them.  _ I'll bring her back there when I find her. They'll understand why I didn't bring them… I hope. _

 

#

 

Kirstin opens the door with a twist of her wrist and some purple mist. The two teenagers lug the pizza inside following the laughter back to the ballroom. When they arrived, they found everyone sitting at the large table, laughing about something. Jordan and Mason turned to look back at them, Jordan letting out an indecipherable shout. They stand up each of them grabbing a pizza and setting them at different places on the table.

 

“Yay, food!” Max calls out appearing through a portal, landing on his seat. Kirstin laughs at that, sitting in between Mason and Ryder. Everybody seemed to have a free for all over the pizza, all just reaching for what they want and taking it. The two teens fit into the family gathering easily. They laughed along with the jokes, Kirstin laughing at the inside jokes Ryder would tell her the stories about. They helped clear the table, ignoring the protests of the others. All and all, it was a good night. Or, it would have been.

 

#

 

Kirstin laughs as she links arms with Mason, the Herondale siblings on either side of them. They were walking down the deserted road that will eventually lead to the Avengers Compound. “That was more fun than I expected. Yes, even when Maryse and Robert started yelling at each other. It was honestly kinda funny.” Jordan shot her brother a look from around the back of their friends, a smirk on her face.

 

Ryder ignores his sister, throwing his arm over Kirstin's shoulder, tugging her slightly away from Mason. “Really? My parents find it annoying, and Alec and Izzy have just kind of given up at this point. Magnus, however, Magnus finds it funny.” He shrugs slightly when the girl looks slightly up at him. “At least my parents seemed to like you. As long as them, and my aunt and uncles, like you, you're good. I couldn't care less about what my grandparents think.  You shouldn't either.” She nods, leaning forward from a moment, around Mason to talk to Jordan.

 

“Five bucks says they ask if Mason is your boyfriend when you go home tonight.” Mason laughs.

 

“Twenty says they ask if you're Ryder's girlfriend.” She retorts, sticking her hand out.

 

She shakes it enthusiastically, “You are so on, bec-” there was a flurry of movement, and Ryder went soaring backward, rolling across the ground and sliding into a battle stance. Kirstin doesn't get hit, instead quickly moves to kick the man-  _ Dean _ \- in the side. Except it wasn't Dean. His face wasn't right. It was almost like he was a vessel.  _ But why would they attack us?  _

 

The angel swings at Kirstin, so she ducks, easily blocking before delivering a hard blow to his chest. Instead of breaking her hand as most would expect, there was a  _ thunk _ , almost like two rocks smashing together. The angel easily swings his hand, bashing his fist against her head.  Kirstin goes flying backward, using her abilities to stop mid-air. Jordan and Ryder attack at the same time, Jordan creating a fist of ice in an attempt to do more damage. Hitting him in the face at the same time Ryder goes for the gut, the ice cracking with the hit but it seems to do some damage.

 

The angel stumbles back at the combined strength, a wicked grin on his face. “I know you,” He confirms to himself, turning to look at the girl, “but you're new.” With a flash of blue light, they both go flying backward. Kirstin hears a flapping of wings, feeling a presence appear behind her, spinning to find Jack standing there.

 

“You’re in danger.” Came out of Jack's mouth. A flash of fire behind her catches his attention soon after, looking behind her to find Ryder blasting Michael with flames, using both hands. 

 

“Clearly.” The mutant girl mutters dryly. She extends her hands, letting her angel blade fly towards him, pulling up short when her father's eyes meet hers.

 

It looks like him, even if she could see the flaming blue around him. Killing that blue form would kill Dean. It would kill Avery's father, the only parent she had left. She would become an orphan. “Amethyst. Please. You wouldn't hurt your father, would you?” The archangel takes a step forward, and her blood runs cold.

 

Her jaw clenches as she restrains herself from letting the knife finish the job, letting the angelic form filter out to show Dean. “You aren't my father. You aren't my father, and that  _ isn't my name!” _

 

Dean-  _ Michael _ rolls his eyes, exasperation clear on his face. “Right, what is it again?” She didn't respond, ignoring his groan of annoyance. “You don't wanna talk. Okay. Well,  _ my  _ daughter was called Amethyst, and when she didn't associate with me, it was Cassiopeia. Her birth name. Yours too, if your parents are who I think they are.”

 

“You knew my parents?” It was soft, almost imperceivable to Mason- the one that was farthest away from her and didn't have super hearing- but it was obvious he heard her. Michael had decided the course of action he would take by now: have her join him and kill everybody standing in the way of that. Of course, that included her parents, but what the Nephilim didn't know wouldn't hurt her. Jack steps forward while she inches forward slightly. A wave of curiosity washed over her, despite his previous attack. “Who are they?”

 

“Kirstin.” It was Jack who stopped her, surprisingly. “He’s going to kill you.”

 

“Don't listen to that hairless ape, Kirstin. They are scared of what we can do. You and your friends call us angels world destroyers. They are scared of me. You are more powerful than me,  _ Kirstin _ . What do you think is going to happen when you use that power?” Kirstin goes to protest, moving to take another step forward when Jack grabs her hand. Nobody was there to stop Michael from moving closer, though, until he was maybe a foot away from the girl. “They'll be terrified.” Kirstin feels her hand squeeze around the blade that had previously been floating. She didn't know when it came back to her hand, but it didn't matter. She couldn't use it without hurting Dean and if she killed Michael she'd never know who her parents are. Who her mother (or Carrier) was. She had so many questions about them. Were they the vessel? If so, who was her other parent? Are  _ they _ still alive? Did  _ they _ know about Michael? The list went on and on.

 

“No, they won't. Because I've never given them a reason to, and I'm certainly not starting now.” She raises the blade, watching as his eyes flicker to it. “Leave. Now. Or I show you what happens when I use that power.” Ryder leans over Jordan's quiet form. She was slowly sitting up, pressing her hand carefully to her bloody forehead. A rush of anger surges through her and, in turn, through the entire group. It echoed in Kirstin, amplifying her ever-present anger. “Now!”

 

Michael sighs, schooling his face as he steps back. “You really believe that. It's cute. But it's the wrong answer. You'll realize, Kirstin, that you haven't seen anything yet. They're still growing.” He grabs the bloody archangel blade from his jacket, “And I would leave, but I have somethings to finish. Spinning towards the Herondale siblings, he moves to stab Ryder. The blonde deflects as the ground begins to shake, Kirstin losing control. Ryder blast the archangel with flames, watching as he flies backward towards the other two Nephilim.

 

The hand Jack was holding releases him as Mason grabs the bloody blade from where it fell during Ryder's counter-attack. Her hand flies up, the blade flying into her hand. Michael is on his feet seconds later, standing in front of the girl. “Give me the blade.” He demands, attempting to use his abilities against hers. Kirstin stands firm, not releasing her grip on the blade, and keeping a telekinetic hold on it too. After a few moments of stand-off, Kirstin mostly trying to give the other three-time to escape, Michael seems to come to a decision. “Stubborn. Just like Amethyst. Fine. We'll do this your way.” 

 

Before she has time to question what he means, his fist crunches against her nose, shattering it. Still, her double grip didn't budge. So he lets his fist connect again. It quickly turns into a brawl, Kirstin swiping the blade at him and her father retaliating with a blow that she tries, and often succeeds, to block. Jack intercepts one of the punches when he reappears, having gotten the others to safety as soon as Kirstin distracted the attacker, grabbing his fist and sending a blast of electricity his way. 

 

Stumbling backward, he lets his fist connect with Jacks face, the untrained Nephilim went down easily, but his recovered cousin quickly backed him up, not thinking twice about attacking him. This lets her telekinesis drop though, her mind distracted. With a quick move, he grabs the blade sinking it harshly into her stomach. The demon blood on the blade does something Kirstin never expected. It feels as though it's burning in her body. The pain too much to bear, even for someone trained to take pain as she was, she cries out dropping harshly. 

 

Jack stands up quickly, moving to fight him. Michael just shakes his head, “Lucifer was never good at creating things. Or finishing the messes he creates.” Drawing a blade across the boy's throat he inhales the boy's grace as the blood spreads through his body. The demon blood wouldn’t affect the now human boy the way it had Kirstin's, but for some reason, his eyes roll up as though someone had already killed him, his veins changing color as he drops to the ground.

 

Michael admires his handy work for a moment, looking between the unconscious boy and his writhing daughter. “Don't worry, my sweet. It's nothing personal. The demon blood should wear off soon. Him, on the other hand. I drained his grace, so the demon blood shouldn't affect him. I don't think he'll survive that long. But that's okay. Because then you'll join me. When they turn on you, you'll join me. Now, excuse me. I have a job to finish.”

 

Summoning up as much strength as she can, Kirstin pushes herself onto her knees, ignoring the fire-like burning in her veins, the wound that was gushing blood.  _ Well, Jordan's next getting this dress back.  _ Kirstin thinks offhandedly.  _ Focus.  _ She lets her telepathy extend, trying to force herself through the walls Michael has around his mind.  _ Focus.  _ She breaches the archangel's mind, taking control.  _ Focus.  _ “Leave… Them… Be! Leave. Now. Don't look back.” She erases the plan he had created, and the images of the Apocalypse. She knew that erasing the memories would do nothing to help Dean, but it would keep the archangel from killing anyone for awhile. It depends on how long it takes for his mind to regenerate. It took Cas nearly six months to remember something she made him forget, without help, so she isn't sure how long it would last for an angel that heals faster, and is generally more powerful. “LEAVE!” With the last word, he vanishes, leaving the bleeding teen to sprawl on the ground, letting herself call out for help. The blade had punctured 

 

#

 

Erik lets out a huff at the expression on Charles' face. “This isn't funny, Erik. Our daughter is in danger.”

 

“I know and I'm not laughing. But you should have seen that coming. He's a teenager, you're a telepath.” Charles rolls his eyes at the statement, as though reading his mind was the obvious choice. 

 

“He seemed innocent enough. He didn't get the idea in his head until after I told him, so I had no idea that was his plan.” Erik just sends him a look. “I'm serious Erik, I had no-” Charles stumbles back like he'd been struck, the sentence dying on his lips.

 

_ HELP!  _ Kirstin's voice screams in his head, the normal mental block seeming to vanish as he reaches out for her. He could see everything. Her past, her  _ present _ ; he wasn't sure which one was more terrifying. “Charles?” Erik moves to grab his arms carefully. “Charles, what's wrong?”

 

“Call the Avengers, quickly. We have to go.”


	15. 12

_ Kirstin grabs the pizza box from Mason's hands, ignoring the protests from the boy, running into the kitchen with the boy on her heels. “I come bearing the pizza!” She calls sliding to a stop in front of the two people there. Rose lets out a breathy laugh, grabbing the boxes and setting them down on the table.  _

 

_ “I'm making dinner right now, guys.” Mason nods in affirmation while his mother gestures to the pots on the stove. _

 

_ “Which is why we come bearing pizza.” The woman hits the boy's arm with a potholder at the statement. “Wait, not like that! I meant it because you're making spaghetti that we could have like an Italian night. What do you think, Gramps?” Mason explains turning to look at the older man for his opinion. _

 

_ “Well, you already bought the pizza, so I don't think I really have a say in this.” Abe Mazur responds easily. Mason and Kirstin nod. _

 

_ “Pretty much.” Mason answers. At the same time, Kirstin states, “Essentially.” Rose shoos them out of the kitchen to finish their homework, noticing the look from her father. _

 

_ “What?” _

 

_ He leans forward slightly, a smile donning his face. “Since when am I, Gramps?” _

 

_ “Since you became a permanent fixture in Mason's life. He needs that, Abe. And I think she does too.” They both glance over, as though they could see the two teens through the wall. _

 

_ “You could always tell his father he exists, you know. Have the father he always wanted.” Rose stiffens, turning her back to him so she can stir the noodles boiling in front of her. _

 

_ “No. I can't.”  _ He wouldn't believe me if I did _ , She thinks to herself. _

 

_ “Then tell me who he is and I'll put that asshole of a Moroi in his place.” _

 

_ “No. Okay, just. Trust me, my son is better off without his father.”  _

 

_ “Like you were better off without me?” Abe asks after a moment of silence. She spins to face him quickly. _

 

_ “This is nothing like you and mom, okay Old Man. This is… If I go back, Mason is in danger. They'd want to see how the Spirit in my veins affected him,” She lies easy as breathing. It wasn't too far from the truth, but she couldn't tell him who the father was, not really. Too complicated, too  _ impossible.  _ This was easier, “and I won't put him through that, okay?” The laughter of the teens trails into the room, only cementing her stance.  _

 

#

 

Mason had sprinted into the medical wings as soon as the bustling had begun. He saw his best friend and the guy he likes being wheeled in on medical beds. Jack had been set up across the room, more blood on him than any wounds. Kirstin, however…  _ Losing too much blood _ .  _ Unknown chemicals injected into her system are interfering with healing capabilities.  _ He'd heard as though through a straw, watching her since she had arrived. He waited patiently for her to complain that she was fine and they were overreacting until he saw the wound. Now, she was flatlining and he was done watching, done  _ waiting _ .

 

Kirstin had been there, the first time he used his abilities. It had only been maybe a year since then. He saved a bird that a stray cat near his apartment building had nearly killed. He didn't realize what he was doing at the time, though maybe he imagined the whole thing. Until they told his mom. That was the day he realized that he was normal when his mom almost had a heart attack at even the mention of him healing something. Kirstin had been sent home and Rose explain everything- well, almost everything. She told him what his powers were, how she knew about them, and how the  _ hell _ he had Moroi abilities as a Dhampir; his father was another Dhampir that had been healed by Spirit. Actually, he was a no-named ex-Strigoi- because apparently you can bring people back from being soulless, bloodsucking, night-dwelling  _ monsters _ with Spirit- who she had known. He hadn't cared that she didn't tell him his name at the time because  _ holy shit, he has powers _ .

 

He was allowed to go after swearing to never use the abilities,  or tell anyone about his father…  _ ever.  _ Which was a very hard thing to agree to. He could heal people, something he'd wanted to do since he was seven, in a way no one else could, he had information about his  _ father _ a ghost his mom had always refused to acknowledge. He didn't want to keep that to himself, he wanted to tell someone, anyone. He wanted to tell  _ Kirstin.  _ But he agreed. Swore to never use the abilities he had been born with, to never tell anyone anything besides the story his mom had stuck to since before his birth and he stuck to it because Mason Belikov was many things, but he was not someone who went back on their word. Now, though. Now he didn't care what promise he broke, or the consequences his mom had vaguely warned him about; Kirstin was dying and he would be damned if he let the sixteen-year-old go without a fight. 

 

The doctors noticed him as soon as he entered the room. “Hey! You can't be in-” He shoves the doctor out of the way putting his hand on the pale girl's cheek, healing her. The doctors, that had been attempting to pull him out of the room, pull up short when her previous flatline had begun to elevate, steadying into a normal heartbeat. The wound is completely gone as he pulls away, hearing his name being repeated from the doorway. 

 

“Mason?” Tony questions carefully, he and his boyfriend both taking a few steps forward. “What did you do?”

 

“I saved her.” The boy slurs out, the last thing he says before he's falling down, darkness taking over.

 

#

 

A groan echoed through the quiet hospital room, the sounds in the room loud enough to make Kirstin scream. The heart monitor was like a gun firing in her ear, the collective breathing loud enough for her to want to scream. Their heartbeats picking up as the heart monitor does, thumping like erratic pulses in her head. The words were too hyper-focused, too close for her to make out, each syllable a knife digging into her ears.  **_Calm down. It's okay._ ** The voice was clearly in her head, calming in a familiar way but the noises weren't getting better. Everything was too loud. Her eyes couldn't focus and when they did, it was on the small particles of dust in the sterile room, the lights too bright to handle. The hands-on her arms felt odd, the fabric of her clothing too itchy, her hair tickling her shoulders without even moving. She could almost taste the chemicals in the air, used to sterilize the room before she had been brought in.

 

“Guys,” Mason says, careful to keep his voice low in fear of twisting the knife. “Her senses are… a lot stronger than I thought. She's…” His voice falters, his hand coming to grip his head slightly. He had heard stories of the Spirit bonds, they had all been one way; the Shadow Kissed heard the Spirit users' thoughts, not the other way around. This was new and odd, and honestly- all things considered- he probably should have seen it coming. Jack, despite also being hooked up to monitors, reaches out to grab the taller boy's hand. 

 

“Panicking. She doesn't like the feeling, it hurts.” Jordan slowly runs her hand over Kirstin's cheek, subduing some of the negative emotions rising up. “Can't say I blame her, having senses like that is exhausting and mine are merely a fraction of hers… should we tell Tony and Steve she woke up?”

 

Mason turns the paler boy's hand over in his tan one, debating for a moment. Her senses were slowly reigning themselves in after the initial panic of the overbearing feel of them. “I don’t… she isn’t awake, not really. Not yet. Besides, I think they were talking to her mentors. Uh… Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr? I don't know why they would show up but they're here.”

 

“They are close. They love her like she's their daughter.” Jack explains as though it was obvious, leaning in toward Mason as the boy takes a step closer to his chair, resting his head on his stomach. 

 

“Makes sense. Their daughter was stillborn, was born around the same time she was. At least that's the official story.” Mason shoots her a questioning look. “What? I like to read unsolved cases.”

 

“Okay, what's the unofficial story?” Mason inquires. Jordan glances at the door for a moment. One cool thing about her powers, she found, is that, based on the intensity of the emotions in people she's met, she can tell about the distance they are at. Like Tony and Steve feel things intensely, so the farther away from her they are, the less she feels them. It gives her a mental estimate of where people are at. People she knows, anyway. 

 

“Logan told me the kid went missing. Taken by someone they thought was their friend for a shady organization. Died a few years later, nobody to be found. The only reason they know she's dead is because the person that took her told them so, before crushing her cyanide pill. Not very comforting, or liable, if you ask me.” The airy way she says it earns her a few more questioning looks.

 

“You think?” He doesn't bother finishing his sentence, simply gesturing to his friend. Jordan shrugs.

 

“Shady organization sounds like Hydra. Kirstin said it herself that if she was taken from somewhere, no one was ever looking for her. Not on the books anyway.”

 

“Of course not. Going to the police would give away the fact that they're looking into said shady organization. Plus, Kirstin's blood is all over the place, if they found her, they'd want to do blood tests. That is, assuming she's the baby.” Jack looks between the two, taking a sharp breath in before coughing slightly. Mason's attention instantly moves back to the blonde. The boy had been coughing since he woke up. Even though he claims it's because his throat feels weird, Mason is worrying. Then again, Mason has read about the worst diseases imaginable, so he's always worried when his friends seem to be getting sick. 

 

“I think you should go lay down, dude. You look like crap.” Jordan states flatly, examining the protective stance Mason had unconsciously shifted into. The older boy helped him up, claiming to come right back as soon as Jack was back in his room and resting. Jordan waits till she's alone with Kirstin to frown. “He would be here if he could… that's not true. He has been here, he can't stomach the sight of you like this. Michael was after him and you got hurt instead. He's blaming himself, Kirst. I don't know what to do. I want to help but every time I do, I make it worse. A week Kirstin. It's been a week. Wake the hell up already. Because you're scaring me, Mason said that the drug needed to leave your system before you'd wake up. It's gone. Your test came back clean this morning. Wake the hell up.” With that, the strawberry blonde stands up, exiting the room with a huff.

 

#

 

This time, when Kirstin floats back to consciousness, everything seems to snap back into place, her mind regulating her hypersensitive senses easily now that the fuzz in her brain seems to vanish. She scrunches her nose at the IV in her arm, pulling the needle out without a second thought. Next, she turns off the heart monitor, pulling the monitor off of her as soon as the machine was shut down. Wincing slightly at the stiffness of her muscles, she climbs out of bed, finding her clothes and pulling them on, taking off the god-awful hospital-like gown. She ignores the figure in the corner, not really paying the translucent person any mind. 

 

“You know, most people would at least page the nurses after waking up from a week-long nap,” Mason says, the smile clear in his voice.

 

Kirstin raises her eyebrows, feigning shock. “Wow. A week-long nap? New record. I totally beat the time Dean crashed after a hunt and didn't wake up for nearly two days.”

 

“You should be resting. You took an archangel blade to the gut.” 

 

Glancing down at her uncovered stomach, she saw the faint scar there, flashes of where she got it playing through her mind. Shrugging, she drops her shirt to cover it. “Ehh. Merely a flesh wound.” Mason rolls his eyes, even as he laughs. “Besides, I slept for a week straight, apparently, I think I got enough rest.” She walks past him, sliding easily through the doorway.

 

“Good. Then you'll go to see Tony and Steve. They were terrified when you flatlined.” Pulling up short, she turns to face her friend.

 

“I flatlined?”

 

“Yeah. Kirstin, you died. I brought you back.” Her eyebrows furrow. “Feel that presence in the back of your mind? That's me.”

 

“Huh.” She hums under her breath. There was definitely a presence in her mind, one that feels more permanent the longer the focused on it. “Damn. Didn't even notice it.” She spins back around, all but marching toward the elevator, her friend hot on her heels.

 

“How could you not notice something like that?” He shoots her a ‘ _ are you insane _ ’ look. A look she got often. Most of the time from him. 

 

The flat look she sent back was also a common look shared between the friends. “I'm a telepath, Mason. I always have presences in the back of my mind. Those are actually still there, but yours… it feels more permanent. It feels right, in a weird way. Different, but not necessarily bad.”

 

Mason nods along, pressing the button on the elevator. “The whole presence isn't completely lost on me. I knew when you wanted me to know you were reading my mind, it felt more like a blanket over my thoughts. This still feels warm and inviting-”

 

“The polar opposite of my personality, ironically enough.” Kirstin interrupts smoothly.

 

“-but more permanent. Like a presence in the back of my mind that just stretches out when needed. It feels kind of nice. But the noise that it comes with does not. I never realized you thought so much. You always look like you're taking an internal nap while your body functions on auto-pilot. Now, I know your body  _ does _ function on autopilot but because your thoughts are a million miles a minute.” Kirstin nods slowly, stepping out of the doorway the second the elevator doors open.

 

Striding into the kitchen, she digs through the cupboards for a moment. “Now take  _ all  _ of those thoughts,” He nods, confused as to where the statement was going, “and multiply them by thousands, okay?” He nods again, still unsure. “That's what I hear on a daily basis, just from the people in this facility. And that's not even with my extended range. That's just as far as I'm willing to let the abilities wander on the daily.” She picks up a green apple, tossing it in the air for a few moments, deliberating. She then picks up a red one too, moving to wash them in the sink.

 

“How far can you reach?” She dries the apple, waiting until she finishes drying them both before turning to face him.

 

“Well, I kept a mental conversation with Avery until she got to… around Philadelphia, so pretty far, if I'm focusing on a single person. Just an intake of thoughts… pretty much the entire state of New York. David can read almost the entire U.S., so can Jean, so Charles is estimating that, with how my powers are growing, I could probably extend my abilities to about the same distance, if not more.”

 

Mason rocks back into his seat. “Wow. Talk about a killer migraine.” Kirstin lets out a breathy laugh, tossing the red apple toward him and taking a bite of the green one. Mason takes a bite of the apple, talking through the food. “Why can't I hear them?”

 

Kirstin finishes chewing, swallowing before she speaks, “Gross, don't talk with your mouth full. You probably could hear them if you tried. I don't recommend it. They are very loud.” Mason nods slowly out of the corner of her eye, her attention being drawn to the translucent figure standing behind him. 

 

Mason notices her stare, spinning to look behind him and nearly jumping out of his chair when he is pulled into her head. From her eyesight, he sees the see-through blue person standing behind him. “What the hell!?” He jumps out of his seat, his vision becoming his own again. The person was nowhere to be seen.

 

“You see him?” She questions warily, eyes never leaving the empty spot of the room.

 

“I saw him… through your eyes.” Kirstin nods slowly, eyes never leaving the spot.

 

“Maybe… maybe you could fill me in on this Spirit crap.”

 

Mason glances at where her eyes are resting. “Yeah. Yeah, that's a good idea.”


End file.
